


Love and Chaos: When Ships Are Canon

by FanStoriesCo



Series: The Love and Chaos Series [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, Fights, Fluff, Heartbreak, High School, Humor, Multi, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural - Freeform, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 39,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21525622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanStoriesCo/pseuds/FanStoriesCo
Summary: Daniella never thought that being Cupid would be so hard but, when you're making people fall in love, mending broken relationships and fighting off your arch-nemesis, it can get difficult.Chike never thought that being Dark Cupid would be so hard but, when you're trying to avoid your sibling, dealing with your own feelings and fighting off your arch-nemesis, it can get hard.By: 😺 & 😂
Relationships: Multiple Original Characters/Multiple Original Characters, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: The Love and Chaos Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551433
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a story of fiction. 
> 
> Any and all similarities to real people are purely just a coincidence. 
> 
> This is our first work of fiction, no don’t mind the bad writing skills

A long time ago there was once a legendary called Cupid. Its purpose was to spread love, pairing those who are destined to be together. 

But over the years, as Cupid watched the humans fall in love, it began to grow sad and lonely because it could not fall in love. 

Thus, a darkness began to develop deep inside of its heart. As the darkness continued to grow stronger, Cupid’s two sides started to collide with one another. 

To rid itself of the darkness that lay deep inside its soul, it had no choice but to split itself into two beings. 

Thus creating: the one we know today as,

Daniella: Cupid of Love,

and the darkness that formed into

Chike: Dark Cupid of Hate.

They were both of equal power, thus neither could overpower the other. And when they went their separate ways to Heaven and Hell, they continued their purpose of creation: 

To disperse love throughout the hearts of the people on earth, and to spread hate, corrupting their hearts.

Things were continuing normally, as they should have, until that one fateful day…


	2. The Meeting: Part 1

Daniella was sitting in her office, completely bored out of her mind. 

It was a very spacious and bright office. Everywhere you looked you could see various types of hearts (seriously, EVERYWHERE).

As soon as you enter the room, you can see a heart-shaped desk and a heart-shaped rolling chair. To your right, you could see a heart-shaped wardrobe, filled with every single one of Cupid’s outfits. When you open the door of the wardrobe and reach towards the back of it, you will find a special, heart-shaped button. 

When pressed, it turns the floor and the back wall, 180 degrees to the right. This reveals a secret hall that contains all of Cupid’s arrows and her other necessities, that help her with her missions. 

To the left, you would find a gigantic pink filing cabinet. It’s filled with files of all the biographies of people in the world (very useful for compatibility research). 

To gather information on the humans of earth, Cupid owns a T.V. that allows her to monitor anyone she wishes too. With the click of her heart-shaped remote, a flat-screen T.V. slowly comes down from the ceiling. This allows her to see all the love going on around the world.

You’d probably think, ‘Why would anyone be bored in such an amazing office?’ Well, even though Daniella has everything that she needs to fulfill her lifetime job as Cupid, sometimes she gets a little lonely.

At that moment, Daniella said to herself, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little helper to assist me with my Cupid duties? Santa has all his elves and what do I get, NO ONE! Obviously, he’s the favourite legendary.” (NOT a Santa hater btw!)

Thus, Daniella turned on her T.V. and began to search the world for a person who would fit the job as her little assistant. She began to specifically look at elementary girls who had the potential to become her next matchmaker. 

Cupid didn’t know it would be so hard to find someone who possessed those qualities. Suddenly, she finds a little girl, sneaking around a playground at school, trying so hard to make her ships cannon. 

Instantly, Daniella laughed, very amused by the little girl’s determination. At that moment, Daniella realized that she would be a perfect choice. So, Cupid set off to earth to find this girl and convince her to be her helper. 

Ready for her small journey, Cupid opened a portal that connects heaven to earth. This allows her to travel between the two realms. She flew right through and in a matter of seconds, she appeared in the sky looking over the city of Mississauga. She then quickly activated her invisibility contraption and began her search. 

To gain more information on the child, she flew down into an alley and transformed into an office lady. She exited the alley and walked towards the enormous elementary school (for orphans) in all of Mississauga. 

She entered the school and walked through the halls, looking for the girl’s classroom. Her tracking gadget, which had been illusioned as a phone, began beeping in front of a specific door. Daniella automatically knew that the girl was in there. 

She snapped her fingers and adoption documents magically appeared in her hands. With these papers, she is going to “adopt” the little girl. She checked the papers making sure everything was is order.

Then she gently knocked three times on the door and after a couple of seconds, the teacher opened the door. The teacher then said, “Yes? How may I help you?” 

Daniella smiled and said, “Hello, I came here to pick up-,” she quickly looks at her ‘phone’, “Vianne Bocarro. I recently adopted her” 

Then the girl, Vianne, stood up from her chair, surprised and looked at Daniella.

Daniella handed the adoption papers to the teacher. The teacher looked it over and smiled. She gestured for Vianne to come over.

“Looks like you have a new mom Vianne, congratulations.” the teacher said. 

Vianne walked out of the classroom, into the hall thinking, ‘New mother? I never even seen her before in my life.’

“Hi, um, I’m happy that I’m finally being adopted but, who are you?” asked Vianne curiously. 

Daniella then warmly smiled at her and said, “Hi Vianne, my name is Daniella. I know this whole adoption seems so sudden but I was really hoping you would be apart of my family/” 

Vianne looked at her curiously again, “But why did you specifically want to adopt me?”

“Well, you’ll find out soon enough. But first, promise to keep a small secret?”

“Hmmm… what secret?”

“I’m going to show you something that you can’t tell anyone about?”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because we’re family now aren’t we?” Daniella smiled.

“…I guess so however, there’s something off about you but, hey, what have I got to lose? I live in an orphanage after all.”  
“You won’t have to worry,” Daniella reassured.

Vianne looked at her and smiled, “Do you pinky swear on it?” 

Daniella smiled too and said, “Sure it’s a deal then?” 

Vianne cheerfully said, “It’s a deal.” 

With the touch of their pinkies, a bright light flashed and they both disappeared.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Suddenly they reappeared in Cupid’s office and Vianne shouted, “Whoa! Where are we, how did we get here, what is this place, are those angels outside of the windows, why are there so many hear--” 

Daniella then grabbed her shoulders and said, “Please, calm yourself, honestly you remind me of me!” 

Vianne immediately shut up. 

Daniella then went on to explain to Vianne about her becoming Cupid, how she really needed a helper and why she chose Vianne. Vianne was amazed by what Daniella had said and could barely believe her ears. 

Suddenly, Vianne looked down sadly. “Wait, so does that mean that you don’t want to adopt me?”

“Well, that doesn’t mean we can’t still be family. We can be like sisters,” Daniella reassured. 

Vianne looked up at Daniella happily but then narrowed her eyes. She stared at her and crossed her arms, “How do I know that you’re telling me the truth? I mean, you don’t look like Cupid.” 

Daniella looked at her and smirked. She transformed into her Cupid form and said, “Do I look like Cupid now? TELL me these wings aren’t real.” She turns around and points at her fluttering wings.

Vianne’s jaw dropped and she stared at her in disbelief, “Wow! I never knew that Cupid was actually REAL! That’s so amazing!” She was then confused, “Hold on, did you just get younger? You look like a teenager. You’re too young to be my mom anyway.”

Daniella scoffed, “Actually, I’m way too old to be your mom.”

Vianne looked at her weirdly. “Oh well. You’re still amazing either way,” she said with wonder in her eyes.

“Am I better than Santa?”

“Well…not better than Santa, but still really awesome.”

“Eh, that’s good enough for me, kid. Anyway, let’s get back to more important things.”

“Oh! Right, the whole ‘me being your helper thing.”

“Yeah. So want to be my little partner?”

“Oh, we’re partners alright! This is going to be so much fun!”

“Perfect” 

Vianne then looked at Cupid deviously, “Soooo, can you help me pair up some of my classmates?”

Daniella smirked.


	3. The Meeting: Part 2

At the same time in another part of the world, Dark Cupid (Chike) wanders around an abandoned street, enjoying the darkness of the night. As he was roaming the street, he suddenly heard a loud cry coming from a small alleyway. 

He turned to look in the alley, “What is that wretched noise? It’s music to my ears.” Chike said smirking deviously, amused by the sound of someone’s suffering.

He began to approach whatever was causing the crying. He then encountered a small box which he assumed was where the noise was coming from. 

Chike kneeled next to the cardboard box and being the curious person he is, opened it. 

As soon as he did thunder and lightning had taken place soon followed by light rain showers (Weather report much?). 

To his surprise and utmost shock, it had revealed a baby that seems to be only a few months old. As the baby looked into Chike’s dark eyes, it quickly stopped crying.

Chike then frowned, “Why did you stop crying? I was enjoying your suffering,” complaining with a huff. 

The baby smiled and started to giggle. 

“Why are you giggling? You should be terrified of my presence.” 

The baby giggled even more. 

“SILENCE! I will NOT tolerate such mockery!” 

In the middle of his ranting to the child, he glanced down and picked a note in the box that he noticed. 

“‘Janna’ huh. What a weird name but, who am I to say, my name’s Chike.” 

The baby or Janna, as he had found out, then reached up and grabbed his nose tightly. 

Chike yelled, “OW! How dare you! Hmm…feisty little creature aren’t you? I like it.” 

Chike then thought for a moment ‘Her mischievous nature might come in handy for my plans in the future’. 

With that, Dark Cupid disappeared into thin air holding baby Janna securely in his arms.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly they reappeared in front of Chike’s evil lair, inside his home. 

He opens the door and the first thing you would see is his black desk and his red spiked black chair. 

To the left, you’d find a long control panel that has a selection of a million buttons (that only Chike knows, therefore, most likely something evil.) Also above the panel are a bunch of monitors that can see everything that goes on, around the earth.

To the right you’d find a tapestry of black and white, with beautiful designs (in Chike’s opinion not mine). Behind it, is a dark red door that has six different types of locks. 

When (or if) opened, it will reveal a storage room full of Dark Cupid’s arrow (that he uses very rarely). At the back of the room, there is a shelf with a giant dark purple bazooka. 

If it were to fire it would bring utter doom to the world.

Chike strolled in casually and walked over to his chair at his desk. He sat down carefully, still holding the curious child in his arms.

Chike then summoned his most trusted soldier, in his army of shadows, Phoenix.

“Dark Phoenix,” Chike said in a demanding tone. 

Out of thin air, a tall, fair man appeared in front of Chike. The man did a salute, hitting his right fist over his heart, twice.

“You called my lord?” he said in a deadly serious tone.

“Yes, you are to take this child and put her in one of the spare bedrooms. She is to be called Janna and is now a resident of the manor,” Chike ordered.

“Yes my lord, but if I may ask, why have you taken this creature to hell?”

Chike stood up abruptly, “Are you questioning my commands, Phoenix?” he said raising his tone.

“N-no my lord, I would never,” Phoenix stammered.

“Then get to it.”

Phoenix took Janna and immediately transported out of the room. 

Chike sat back down, in his chair and said out loud, “I have a feeling that this will be very interesting.”


	4. New Ships

15 years later... Vianne had grown to be a skillful and well-trained colleague of Cupid. She had proven herself to be a master at matchmaking (like a certain someone we know *cough* Daniella *cough*) During her intense training, Vianne had taken a special elixir in order to retain her youth (she's older than she looks) so that she can live longer and assist Daniella with her missions. Vianne had also earned her very own pair of white wings and her very own cupid crossbow. (Courtesy of Daniella)

Meanwhile, with Janna, it was a completely different story. She had grown up and had been raised by the malicious Chike, with assistance from Phoenix. Throughout the years, Janna had gone to school, on earth because she needed a normal, human education and Chike wasn't capable of teaching her what she is required to know. Only when Janna was curious enough to ask him, Chike told her about his past and what his purpose is, in the world. Janna, as a person, had a very laid back or an "I don't care" attitude, similar to her adoptive older brother. She has a very mischievous nature and is secretly very intelligent, even though Chike is completely oblivious to it. Everything was continuing normally until…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay Vianne, have you found some new victims to pair up? It's been a while since we last matched up a 'destined to be couple', " asked Daniella casually to Vianne, who was busy watching the monitor for any love problems.

"Not yet, Boss. Unfortunately, there's not much love in the air these days," Vianne replied.

"Geez, it gets boring up here not being able to match up people, don't you agree Vianne?”

"Sure does, Boss."

"Anyway, just keep watching the monitors, I'll be here filing these biographies."

"Okay, I'll let you know when I find something," Vianne replied. After what seemed like forever, Daniella finally finished filing those biographies. 

Suddenly Vianne exclaimed, "I FOUND SOMETHING!!!"

"Finally, what did you find!? " Daniella said excitedly.

"I found a whole high school full of potential soulmates!" Vianne yelled.

"Well, you don't find that every day. But, anyway, great job Vianne. I knew you could do it."  
"Thanks, so what do we do now?"

"Well... I have a plan, " Daniella said smiling. She then proceeded to tell Vianne her plan.


	5. Daniella Cupid

"Okay, you understand the plan?" said Daniella.

“Yeah... I think so.” replied Vianne, "So, I'll be here and you'll be down on earth, right?”

“Yup. So, here's the comm so you'll be able to communicate with me from the highschool. Remember to monitor every single pairing," Daniella said giving Vianne the comm.

Vianne then said, "Phase 1 is a-go?”

Daniella replied, “Definitely. Well, I 'm off!” 

She then smiled and waved to Vianne while entering the portal. Daniella then appeared on the other side of the portal, in the sky.

"Ahhhh, it's been a while since I've been here. Feels good," Daniella said happily. Hastily, she activated her invisibility contraption and flew into an alleyway.

She pressed her comm, and asked Vianne, "Hey Vianne, do you have a visual?"

"Yes I do, Daniella," Vianne replied.

"Good, now it's time to put on my disguise!" Daniella snapped her fingers and a bright light surrounded her. Seconds later, the bright light diminished and Daniella said, "So Vianne, how do I look? Am I a convincing high school girl?" 

Daniella was now wearing what seemed to be a Japanese schoolgirl outfit.

"Yeah, that's convincing enough," she replied. 

Daniella then proceeded out of the alley and continued down the sidewalk until she reached the highschool. 

When she did reach the highschool, she entered it and started to walk down some hallways, trying to find the office. As she walked, she realized that she had helped many of the students there before (but not all). 

As she passed the halls, while giving finger guns to students she recognized in the hall, Daniella thought to herself, ‘Hey! I know you! Haha… But, you don’t know me so, we’re basically strangers but, either way, we’ve met even though you don’t know it’

Someone then looked at her weirdly, wondering why she was pointing at random people. 

‘Oh. Yea. Uh, no. I really shouldn’t point at people in public,’ Daniella thought to herself embarrassed then quickly proceeded down the hall.

She whispered to herself, “Geez. How big is this school?! I can’t find that dang office. You’d think they’d put the main office in the foyer but, nooo. They just had to put it in a hidden place.” 

After what seemed like forever, she found the office. She stood in front of the door and knocked three times. 

Someone then said, "Come in!" 

Daniella opened the door and stepped inside, where she found a middle-aged woman typing away on her computer. She assumed the lady was the secretary and walked up to her desk. 

"Hi," Daniella says nicely.

"Oh," says the secretary, "Hello. Are you a new transfer student? I've never seen you here before."

"Yes, I am. My name's Daniella."

“Did you find the office alright? It usually takes new students a long time to find it considering that it’s not in a very obvious place.”

Daniella nodded and thought, ‘Yea, no kidding. It took me AGES!'

"Anyway, welcome to GoldenHearts Central Highschool. Do you have the registration form?"

Daniella then remembered she had created a registration form on her way to the high school. She quickly took out the paper from her "bag" (which was actually her quiver which held all of her arrows in disguise).

"Here you are," Daniella smiled. 

The secretary took the paper from her hands and looked it over.

"Mmmhmm, yes, everything seems to be in order," she said. 

Suddenly, the secretary adjusted her glasses and looked up from the paper to Daniella and said curiously, "Daniella... Cupid?”

Daniella looked at her and rambled. "Yes, that's my name! Daniella Cupid! Funny last name, huh, I come from a LONG heritage of, uh-"

She was then cut off by the secretary. "Don't worry, I get it. I have a peculiar last name as well. Which reminds me, I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Mrs. Crackpot." 

As soon as Daniella heard her last name, she quickly coughed into her elbow trying to cover up her laughter. "*Cough* Sorry, I'm a bit sick today!" Daniella smiled.

"It's alright, dear. Anyhow, let's get your guide for the week," Mrs. Crackpot said.

"My guide?" Daniella asked.

"Yes, every new student at this school gets someone, from the school, to help them for the first week that they're here. Think of it as a way to help the new students get comfortable," she explained.

"Oh, that's nice. So, who will be my guide?”

"One moment please," said Mrs. Crackpot. 

She then turned on the P.A. and said, "Janna Alyssa Lim, please report to the main office immediately. Janna Alyssa Lim, please report to the main office immediately. Thank you.” 

After Mrs. Crackpot did her little announcement, she turned to Daniella and said, "She'll be here in a minute."

After a couple of moments, the door opened and a girl walked in saying, "What did I do this time?"

Mrs. Crackpot replied, "Don't worry Janna, you're not in trouble... THIS time."

"Oh! Okay, so what is it?" Janna said surprised.

"We have a new student," Mrs. Crackpot says.

Daniella turned to face Janna and said, "Hi! My name's Daniella Cupid. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise... wait a minute. Daniella... Cupid?" she asked questionably. 

"Yup," replied Daniella.

'Strange' Janna thought.

"Anyway," Mrs. Crackpot said, "Janna, you are to be Daniella's guide for the week. You are to show her around the campus and answer any questions that she might have."

"Hold on a second," Daniella said interrupting Mrs. Crackpot's explanation, "with all due respect, isn't she a little young to be my guide?"

Janna then says, "Excuse me! I'll have you know that I'm only about TWO years younger than you and I know this school like the back of my hand!"

Daniella raises her hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, sorry. I didn't realize how qualified you are for this job." 

She then thought, 'And for information, I'm like thousands of years older than you. Thank you very much.’

"Nah, don't worry about it," Janna mumbled.

"That is true. Janna, despite her mischievous nature, is one of our most responsible, intelligent and prestigious students at our school," said Mrs. Crackpot.

Janna rubs the back of her neck shyly.

"Anyway," Mrs. Crackpot says while giving a piece of paper to Daniella, "here's your schedule. Have a nice day."

"Thanks, you too," Daniella said while walking out the door with Janna.

Janna then takes the schedule from Daniella. "Well, I'll take you to your first class. Chemistry starts in a few minutes," Janna said looking at Daniella's schedule.

As Janna walked in front of her, Daniella thought to herself, 'Janna, huh, sounds familiar..."

"DANIELLA!" a voice screams in her ear.

"Ehaaah!" Daniella screams, off guard.

Janna then quickly turned and looked at her weirdly and asked, "Everything alright?"

"Huh, yeah, of course, everything's fine!" Daniella said rapidly.

"Okay..." Janna replied. She turned back around and continued to walk forward.

'Gee, that was close' Daniella thought. 

"Vianne, what was that?! You almost blew my cover!" Daniella whisper-shouts at Vianne.

"Sorry! But you completely forgot that I was here!”

"Well, I can't necessarily talk to you when I'm near other people," Daniella whispers.

"Okay, I understand. But, you should still keep in contact with me so that we can continue the mission," Vianne explained.

"Yeah, you're right Vianne, but I have to go," she whispered.

"Got it. Over and out," Vianne said.

As seconds passed by, Janna and Daniella finally approached the Chemistry Lab.

"Well, here's your first class. I need to get to mine, so I have to go. But, I'll meet you here, after first-period ends. Bye!" Janna explained while waving to Daniella and walking away.

'Ooh, Chemistry! I've always been a master at potions, so this sounds fun!' she thought to herself. 

Then she shook her head, 'Focus Daniella, you can't forget about the mission at hand.'

With that thought, she entered the classroom.


	6. New Friends

Halfway through the class, Daniella was having fun mixing different types of chemicals simultaneously. She followed the professor's instructions perfectly, blending various groups of substances together. 

"A bit of this, a dash of that... and... oh, definitely this!" she said out loud to herself, mixing the chemicals. 

"Now all I need is..." she began to say while glancing around her workspace. 

Daniella then spots two beakers: one with red chemicals and another with white chemicals. Her eyes suddenly widened. "THAT!" she exclaimed. 

Daniella quickly grabbed the beakers and blended them together, creating a pink coloured substance. 

She put on her goggles and said, "Let's do this!" 

Right after she said that everyone else began to make their way to the back of the classroom, including the Professor. The students started to mumble amongst themselves, whispering things like, 

"Is she nuts?!”

"No one has ever done this combination before.”

“This should be illegal.”

As Daniella was about to pour in her last ingredient, some terrified teen yelled, "It's gonna BLOW!!!!!" and quickly ducked under one of the tables. 

Daniella had added her final element, which then caused a huge explosion! After the coloured smoke cleared up everyone looked in awe at the wonderful creation.

"It's a flower!" Daniella said cheerfully. There, sprouting out of the beaker, was a beautiful, multi-coloured flower! It seemed almost magical.

The teacher broke the silence by saying, "Well, you don't see that every day!" 

Just then, the bell rang. 

"That's the bell, class dismissed. Don't forget to complete your chemistry homework by Monday, " he reminded the class.

As everyone was leaving the classroom, including Daniella, Vianne suddenly shouted in her ear, "Daniella!!"

"What is it, Vianne?" Daniella replied.

"Code White! Code White! I think I've just spotted a potential couple!" Vianne yelled.

"Really? Where?" Daniella exclaimed while looking around.

"Over there to your left is the girl.”

"Um, Vianne... Which girl!" Daniella said still staring at multiple girls still in the classroom.

"The one packing up her bag," Vianne stated. 

Daniella had spotted the girl. "I found her!" Daniella quickly hid behind the Professor's desk. 

The girl appeared to be around 5'6 with dark brown, braided hair and milk chocolate skin.

"Vianne! What's the status of the girl?" Daniella asked.

"Well, according to our biographies, her name is Ugonna Okorie or commonly known as Ugo," Vianne said.

"Cool! So... who's the boy?" Daniella asked curiously.

"Over there, to your far right, the one stacking chairs!" Vianne told her.

"Oh, I spotted him!" Daniella said.

The guy appeared to be around Ugo's height, with pitch black hair and tanned skin.

"So, what's his name?" Daniella asked.

"Alfred Carrera," Vianne said.

"Okay, so I'm going to stay here, watch them (non-stalker, this is her job!) and wait until more people leave," Daniella told Vianne.

As people started to leave, Daniella continued to keep a close eye on the soon to couple. After a couple of minutes, only two people remained in the classroom: Ugo and Alfred. 

"Good, they're alone," Daniella whispered, trying not to be heard.

Ugo put her bag on a chair and made her way to the back of the classroom, to get her chemistry textbook. 

As she went, Alfred continued to stack all of the chairs. He then walked over to Ugo's chair, with her bag still on it. 

Being the careless person he is, Alfred took her bag and dropped it on the floor. He did not give a d*mn about all of the stuff that fell out. He then continued to stack the remaining chairs. 

As Alfred was leaving the lab, Ugo turned around and was shocked to see her bag and everything that was inside of it, on the floor. 

She looked at Alfred. 

"Gee, thanks!" Ugo said sarcastically.

Alfred turned around, smirked and said, "You're welcome!" 

He exited the room, leaving Ugo to gather up all of her (PRECIOUS!) belongings.

"Feisty one, huh," Daniella said, "This one will be a challenge." Daniella then got up from her hiding place and approached the not-so-happy Ugo. She then kneeled down and began to help pick up Ugo's stuff.

"Daniella," Daniella said introducing herself while giving Ugo her notebook.

"Ugo," she quietly said taking her notebook (feeling slightly less miserable).

"Sooo..." Daniella began. "Wasn't chemistry fun?" she said enthusiastically.

"You almost blew up the classroom," she said bluntly.

Daniella giggled. "Well, at least I didn't!" she said.

Ugo chuckled. "You're the new student, right?” she asked. 

Daniella nodded. 

"You saw what happened, didn’t you?” Ugo asked embarrassed.

"Yeah, I did, but look on the bright side, at least your laptop wasn't in there or anything," Daniella said positively.

“True. I did take it out before chemistry," Ugo explained.

They both got up from the floor and headed out of the classroom. "So, where did you put it?" Daniella asked Ugo curiously.

"In my locker, where else?" Ugo replied. 

"Right! Locker! I have no idea where mine is!" Daniella remembered.

"Oh, I'll help you find yours! What's your locker number?" Ugo asked. 

Daniella began to search her bag looking for her schedule, which had her locker number on it. 

"Here," Daniella said handing it to Ugo. She glanced at the paper and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh! Your locker is right next to mine! Come, I'll show you the way!" Ugo exclaimed joyfully.

"Okay!" Daniella smiled.

The two walked in the halls for a while and eventually reached their lockers.

"Here's your locker!" Ugo said pointing to Daniella's locker. 

"Thanks!" she said. Daniella took out a lock from her bag (don't ask where it came from) and connected it to her new locker. 

She thought of multiple combinations and settled on one. Daniella inputted it into the locker hole. ‘181716,' she thought to herself. 

All of a sudden a short girl with glasses and dark brown hair, yelled at the top of her lungs, "UGOOOOOOOO!!" 

The girl ran and jumped on to Ugo. Ugo stumbled a bit but quickly recovered. "Where were you?! I called you like a MILLION times!" the girl screamed.

"Sorry, Christina! There was a problem after class," Ugo explained.

"What type of problem?" Christina asked suspiciously.

"Someone knocked over my backpack and all of my stuff fell out."

"But I called you, why didn't you answer me?" Christina asked, still angry.

"Oops, I guess my phone was still on silent mode," Ugo said apprehensively.

"That's no excuse!" Christina yelled.

"Well, I made a new friend, along the way," Ugo said turning to Daniella. 

"Daniella, Christina. Christina, Daniella," Ugo introduced.

"Hi!," Daniella smiled letting out her hand.

Christina then looked at Daniella, up and down. She appeared to be mentally analyzing her. Christina smiled and shook Daniella's hand. "Nice to meet you."

As Christina let down her hand, Daniella's eyes followed her hand. Daniella then noticed that Christina's pinky had a red string attached to it. A string that only Cupid could see. 

It was the String of Fate. An invisible string that connects soulmates—or possible soulmates—together. 

Daniella's gaze followed the string to a boy who about 6 feet away and who was talking with two other people. 

The guy appeared to be about 5'8, with dirty blond hair and bluish-green eyes. Daniella's eyes widened. She then knew that those two were destined to be a couple.

Suddenly, Daniella saw what appeared to be a hand, waving in front of her face. "You okay?" Christina asked concerned.

Daniella then snapped back into reality. "Huh?" she said confused.

"She asked if you were okay," Ugo said.

"Oh. No. I mean yes! I'm totally fine!" Daniella quickly explained.

"Okay..." Ugo and Christina said simultaneously.

"Um, I actually have to go to the washroom. See you guys at lunch?" Daniella asked.

"Sure!' Christina said, about to leave.

"We'll meet you in the cafeteria," Ugo said, following Christina.

Daniella ran off to the nearest washroom. 

She then checked to see if the coast was clear and went in. "Vianne! Vianne!" she yelled into her comm.

"What is it, Daniella? Is something wrong?" Vianne asked.

"No, no. Everything is perfectly fine!" Daniella replied.

"Then what is it?" Vianne asked eagerly.

"I found another one.”


	7. Christina's Crush

"Krystian and Christina, huh?” Vianne stated, "According to these biographies, they're completely compatible." 

“Yeah! It's only my first day and we've already spotted two ships!" Daniella said excitedly. 

"Well, now that we've gotten this sorted out, you should head to the cafeteria and meet up with your new friends. I'll continue to search for more ships," Vianne explained.

"Okay," Daniella said leaving the washroom.

As Daniella was walking towards the cafeteria, she began to have a feeling that she had forgotten something. "Oh well," Daniella said shrugging her shoulders. 

When she finally arrived at the cafeteria, Daniella took a tray and got in line with the other students. She looked at the wide variety of food. "Ooooh, Earth food!" she exclaimed, grabbing anything her eyes laid on. 

She made her way to the cashier when she noticed a weird looking aliment. "Umm... what's this?" Daniella curiously asked the lunch lady.

"I don't know," the annoyed lunch lady replied.

"But didn't you make this?" Daniella asked again.

"Look, kid, I don't know what I put in that thing," the lunch lady said again.

"Okay...," Daniella said slowly leaving the line. 'So where am I going to sit? I wonder where Ugo and Christina are?' Daniella asked herself.

Daniella suddenly heard someone yell, "Daniella! Over here!" Daniella looked to find the source of the voice and saw Ugo and Christina waving to her. 

Daniella approached their table. "Hi, guys!" Daniella said cheerfully.

"Hi!" Ugo said.

" Is everything alright? You were gone for quite a while," Christina asked concerned.

"I'm fine. It just took me a long time to get here," Daniella explained.

"Oh, that makes sense. This is a big school!" Ugo said understanding.

Daniella sat down and began to eat her lunch. "Yum! This Earth food is delicious!" Daniella said with a mouthful of food. 

Ugo and Christina looked at her oddly. "Um, Earth food?" Ugo asked.

"Um, yeah! Earth food! We're on Earth and this is food. Earth food, get it?" Daniella tried to explain.

Ugo and Christina looked at each other and turned back to Daniella. "Sure..." Christina said suspiciously. 

A few minutes later, Daniella suddenly heard someone yell her name from across the cafeteria. 

An angry Janna stomped over to Daniella. 

'Oh. THAT is what I forgot!' Daniella remembered.

"Daniella! Where were you?!" Janna questioned. "You were supposed to meet me outside of the chemistry lab after class! I looked inside of the classroom, a couple minutes after the bell rang, but I didn't see you. So, I figured that you had forgotten," Janna explained.

"Oh. That must have been when I was hiding behind the professor's desk," Daniella said.

"Wait a minute! You were hiding behind the professor's desk. What were you doing there?" Ugo stepped in. 

"Uhh..." Daniella began.

"You weren't spying on me and you-know-who, were you?" Ugo asked suspiciously.

"Uhh..." Daniella said again.

"Hold on!" Christina said joining the conversation. "You-know-WHO?!" Christina asked Ugo.

"No one!" Ugo quickly replied.

"Tell me, Ugo! You know you can't hide anything from me!" Christina said eagerly.

"Not right now!" Ugo yelled.

"Ugo!" Christina whined while playfully hitting Ugo.

As Ugo and Christina argued with each other, Daniella turned to look at the impatient Janna. The little dispute was obviously annoying her. Daniella quickly ran in between of Ugo and Christina and pushed them apart.

"Guys!" Daniella yelled. Ugo and Christina stopped. Daniella then turned to Janna. "Sorry, Janna. I met up with Ugo and Christina and I guess I forgot," Daniella apologized. 

"That's okay. Well, now I know who your new guides are going to be," Janna said.

"Wait! You're not going to be my guide anymore? Then who is?" Daniella asked.

"Hold on!" Christina interrupted, "Aren't you a bit young to be Daniella's guide?"

"Yeah," Ugo added.

"No, I'm not. And believe me, you're not the first to have said that today," Janna said while glaring at them.

"Oh, sorry Janna," Christina apologized.

"Whatever. I'll just take that as a compliment," Janna said.

"So, anyway, if you're not going to my guide, then who is?" Daniella asked.

"Right! They're standing right behind you," Janna said.

Daniella, Ugo, and Christina all turned around and said at the same time, "Where?" 

Janna then facepalmed. “Seriously, I talking about Ugo and Christina," Janna said pointing to the two girl respectively.

"Ohhhh!" Daniella, Ugo, and Christina said simultaneously.

"It was pretty obvious," Janna chuckled while rolling her eyes. ”Since you’re already friends and are in the same grade, I think it would be better if you two guided Daniella for the week," Janna explained.

Suddenly the bell rang.

"Okay, I'll leave you to it. Bye!" Janna said while exiting the cafeteria.

" Bye Janna!" Daniella smiled while waving to her. 

Daniella, Ugo, and Christina then left the cafeteria and went to their next class.

One week later…

The three girls had gotten much closer together and Daniella tried her best not to reveal her identity. 

One day, Daniella, Ugo, and Christina were hanging out by their lockers. "Soooo," Daniella began, "How are your love lives?" She was attempting to find out more about them and the people that they like. She had asked this question to subtly gather more information.

Christina stared at Daniella. "I don't have one," she stated simply.

"Surrrre, you don't," Ugo said sarcastically.

Christina looked at her and gave her a death glare. "Ugo, I don't," Christina said firmly.

"Okayy...," Ugo said.

A moment of silence passed. 

Suddenly Ugo blurted out, "Christina likes someone!"

"UGO!" Christina yelled about to hit her.

"Oh, who?" Daniella asked pretending to not know.

"Ugo! Don't you dare!" Christina threatened.

"Krystian," Ugo whispered into Daniella's ear.

"UGOOOOO!" Christina yelled. She began to chase Ugo through the halls. "Get back here!" she yelled.

"Your tiny legs can't catch me!" Ugo giggled.

"We'll see about that!!" Christina replied. She chased Ugo for some time but finally cornered her. "Now I've gotcha!" Christina smirked while grabbing hold of Ugo. She brought her back to where Daniella was still standing. 

"You better not tell ANYONE!" Christina threatened her face an inch away from Daniella's.

"Don't worry, I won't," Daniella assured Christina while slowly pushing her back.

Christina sighed. "Is it obvious?" she asked.

"Though you are being subtle about it, I can easily tell. I have good love intuition, you know," Daniella replied.

"So you don't think he knows?" Christina asked meekly.

"Probably not. Boys don't notice these kinds of things," Ugo said.

"Yup," Daniella added.

Just then, the bell rang.

"Well, we gotta get to music class! Let's go!" Ugo stated. 

They all walked to class. 

"Okay, class, for the next few weeks, we will be doing a partner project. With your partner, you will be required to create a song with an ostinato, (cause ostinatos are cool) that is no more than two minutes long. You will include lyrics to your song and present it in front of the class," the music teacher explained. 

As the teacher gave them the details concerning the project, Daniella whispered to Ugo, "Hey Ugo, let's be partners and let's convince the other boys not to partner up with Krystian so that he and Christina will be partners for the project." 

Ugo chuckled, “That’s so cruel. Let's do it. Christina is so gonna hate us for this." 

They then proceeded to tell the boys in the class not to partner up with Krystian. The boys were confused at first but eventually agreed because they knew that he liked her.

After the teacher finished explaining, Christina turned to look at Ugo and Daniella but they shook their heads, implying that they were already partners. Christina gave them a dramatic look of betrayal. 

The teacher then asked the class to raise up their hand if they didn't have a partner. Christina raised up her hand along with another person. "Okay then. Krystian and Christina, you're partners," the teacher stated.

Christina's eyes grew wide and turned to look at Daniella and Ugo who were smiling and giving a thumbs up. She gave them the deadliest death glare that you could possibly imagine.

Ugo and Daniella laughed nervously to cover up their fear. 

Ugo then elbowed Daniella on the shoulder. "You know that we're dead after this right?" she said fake smiling.

"Yea, I know," Daniella also smiled.

Krystian approached Christina and said, “So, I guess we're partners."

"Yeah..." Christina said awkwardly.

After class ended, Ugo and Daniella quickly packed up and ran out of the classroom before Christina could catch them. 

When they thought that they had lost her, Ugo and Daniella took a break. 

“I…think…we...lost her!" Daniella said breathlessly.

Ugo nodded then she turned around. Her eyes widened. "Daniella. Run!" Ugo yelled while tapping Daniella's shoulder.   
Daniella turned around.

"Huh?" she said. 

The minute she saw Christina, she grabbed Ugo and they ran for their lives. "UGO! DANIELLA!" Christina shouted chasing after them.

As Christina chased them Ugo said, "Goodbye sweet world." 

Meanwhile back at HQ...

Vianne was laughing her head off, watching the scene unfold before her eyes. She said, "This is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen on tv!"


	8. A Change in Plans

One morning, Chike was in his dark lair, watching the people of earth in disgust. "Eww, love. How nauseating!" he cringed. 

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. "What do you want, little sister?" Chike asked annoyed, knowing it was Janna.

"Just letting you know that Phoenix is taking me to school now. And... why are you always in there 24/7? You seriously need to get a life!" Janna replied while opening the door.

"You insolent child! I'll have you know that I DO have a life, as you can see!" he yelled, pointing at the monitor.

"Whatever," Janna said leaving the room.

'How dare she! Has she no respect for what I do? She’s one feisty teenager alright but, that's why she's my little sister,' he thought, 'Anyway, why does she have to bother me? Whatever I do is none of her business! I'm glad she goes to earth school every day, except for those annoying weekends!’

"Speaking of that earth school," he continued to say out loud. "There must be a lot of potential hearts to break," he smirked. 

Dark Cupid walked in front of his monitor and said, "Monitor, find Janna's high school."

"Searching... high school," the monitor replied in a monotone voice. 

The monitor then zoomed in on the high school that Janna attends every day. Because the day was just about to begin, he saw plenty of high schoolers going inside the ginormous school. 

He also saw Janna and her friends going inside. As he looked at the terrain, he smirked to himself realizing that there were many opportunities to ruin relationships. 

He was about to unleash some of his shadows onto the high school when he spotted something unusual. Chike looked suspiciously at a small group of girls. 

For the most part, they all looked normal. However, when he took a closer look at one of the girls, he had a feeling he knew her from somewhere. 

"Odd. She seems familiar..." Chike said, taping his chin. His eyes widened in realization. 

The monitor had the ability to take away any disguise and did so. Chike stared angrily at the monitor and said, “Cupid!"

Meanwhile back on Earth...

"How many times do we have to say we're sorry?" Ugo whined while walking in the hallway.

"Not enough!" Christina said sternly. 

"But hey, look on the bright side!" Daniella began.

"WHAT bright side, Daniella?" Christina asked dead inside.

"You DO like being partners with him, don't you?" Daniella smiled.

"Yeah, Christina," Ugo said giving her the look.

"Oh, shut up!" Christina said annoyed.

"Whatever..." Ugo and Daniella said simultaneously. 

The three walked passed Janna, who was chatting with her friends. Janna, Christine, and Paty stopped at their lockers.

"My brother can be such a pain sometimes!" Janna ranted. "Wait, what am I saying? He a pain all of the time!" she yelled.

"You must REALLY hate him," Paty said.

"I don't hate him... I just strongly dislike him!" Janna stated.

"Wow, Janna," Christine said rolling her eyes.

"What? If you had a brother like him, you'd want to run away," Janna blurted out.

"Geez is he really that bad?" Paty questioned.

"Yes! I feel like I'm living in hell!" she said. 'Which I do but they don't need to know that' she thought.

"I pray for you," Christine said. 

"I can handle it, he is my brother after all," Janna sighed.

Speaking of Chike...

He angrily stomped his foot on the hard floor. 

"How dare she?!" he yelled, "Cupid ruined my plans to spread hate throughout the heart of people AGAIN! This has got to be, at least, the 10 millionth time she’s beaten me to it.” 

He frowned in anger then, his frown slowly morphed into a smirk, "Well, two can play that game."

Daniella, Ugo, and Christina walked through the halls. Krystian and his friends walked the opposite way. There were a group of football who were playing recklessly in the halls (when they weren’t supposed too).

One of the players threw a football while the other player was going to catch it. The player who was going to catch the football was running backwards towards the friend groups.

“I got it. I got it!” The player said about to catch the ball.

The player then jumped up, caught the ball midair and landed. When he landed, he landed too close to Christina and accidentally pushed her towards the boys.

Christina bumped into Krystian. He was able to catch her, but the force was too much. 

Krystian lost his balance and fell over, dragging Christina with him. At that moment, they were on the floor, with Christina ON TOP of Krystian! 

The football player looked at the two on the ground. They player said, “Whoops, my bad,” and walked away.

As a reflex, Christina had her eyes closed not wanting to look at his face. But when she did open them, Christina found herself staring face to face with a blushing Krystian. 

She, herself blushed and then thought 'OH SHIT!' realizing the position that they were in. 

Christina quickly got off of him and stood up. Once she composed herself, she helped Krystian up off of the floor.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Ugh, those stupid football players. Don’t they know not to play in the halls,” Christina said and glared at the group of football players who behind them.

"It's okay, it was an accident," Krystian said, trying to calm her down, noticing that she was about to strangle the player who she assumed knocked her down. "Well, I'll see you at music class," he said waving to her while walking away with his friends.

Christina stared at them as they left. Ugo and Daniella ran over to her asking her if she was okay. 

“My goodness! Do people always play that rough in the halls?” Daniella asked.

“Unfortunately,” Ugo replied.

Christina groaned.

“Uh-oh. This girl’s about to lose it,” Ugo said.

“Oh. My. God! Those stupid motherfu…,” Christina began to rant

The trio started to make their way to their next class. “Geez. How inconsiderate are football players?" Vianne spoke into the comm, “I’m glad I never had to go to high school.” 

Daniella sighed. “You know? When I said I wanted them to fall more for each other, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind” she told Vianne. 

“At least they had a moment together,” Vianne stated.

Daniella laughed. “Haha! You know? It was kind of funny now that I look back on it,” she said.

Vianne smirked, “Actually, you know what? I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of these type of ship moments.”

“Oh Vianne,” Daniella sighed. 

She glanced over to look at Ugo, who was continuing to calm down Christina. “Anyway, I have to go," Daniella said.

"Ok, I'll be watching!" Vianne replied.

Just then the bell rang. "We'd better get to music class," Ugo sighed.

The Trio entered the classroom. Ugo and Daniella took their seat at one of the tables. Krystian waved at Christina for her to come sit next to him. 

"Hey Christina, over here!" he said.

"Hi..." she quietly said while taking her seat.

"So," Krystian began. "Have any ideas for our song?" he asked. 

Christina continued to look down shyly, recalling the incident that had occurred just before class, between her and him. "Yeah, a few," Christina eventually said.

"Ok..." he said.

The two continued to sit there awkwardly. 

Daniella looked at them and sighed. 

'I thought that partnering them up would help them be more comfortable with each other, but, it isn't going so well. I guess I'll have to start phase two,' Daniella thought to herself.

Ugo interrupted Daniella’s thought process. “Let’s get started on our music project,” Ugo said.

"Right!" Daniella said getting back to work.

A few minutes passed and the teacher asked for the class's attention. "Okay class, we have a new transfer student with us today," the teacher announced.

Daniella really wasn't paying any attention to this for she was still working (or maybe doodling). 

The new student entered the classroom. 

"Go ahead and please introduce yourself," the teacher suggested.

"Sure," the new student said in a deep voice. "My name is Chike," he said. 

Right after she heard that name Daniella quickly looked up and her eyes widened. 'Oh no," she thought.

The two, Cupid and Dark Cupid, locked eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Chike smirked. 

Daniella continued to glare at him, in anger, knowing that this wouldn't end well.


	9. A New Start

"It's a pleasure to meet ALL of you," Chike had said, rising up the tension between him and Cupid.

Meanwhile at HQ, Vianne had been calmly taking a sip of her tea when she saw Dark Cupid appear on the monitor. 

She spit out her tea and stared in disbelief. 

“No. Way.” she said with her jaw dropped.

The teacher then told Chike to sit next to a boy named Matthew. 

The boy raised up his hand, indicating who he was. 

Chike, with a poker face, walked over to the table and sat down. 

Matthew turned to look at Chike, smiled and said, "Hi nice to meet you." Chike crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. 

Matthew chuckled. 

Chike glanced at him and frowned, ‘Odd, no one's ever chuckled at my cold shoulder before. Well, except for Janna.' 

Matthew began to ramble on about things but Chike paid no attention for he was trapped in his angry thoughts. 

'Ugh, this guy is so annoying. What does it take to shut him up? Everything he says is so irrelevant, unimportant, simply non-s-' Chike's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Mathew.

"So now that we’re partners, do have any ideas for our project?" Matthew asked.

'Wait! What?!' Chike screamed in his mind. 'I must have heard him wrong! That can't be!' Chike turned his head to face Matthew. "Did you say... partners?" Chike questioned, trying his best not to puke.

"Yeah, didn’t you hear the teacher? We’re partners for the music project. Why? Is there a problem?” Matthew smiled.

Chike turned his head away, avoiding the question. 'Oh, there's a problem alright and it's the nerdy guy sitting next to me.'

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Daniella still couldn't believe that her arch nemesis, Dark Cupid, was in the same high school as her; in the same classroom as her; breathing the same air as her. As long as Chike was here, Daniella knew it would ruin her mission. But she might as well keep a positive attitude because negativity won't do her any good. 

"Hey, do you know that guy?" Ugo asked pointing at Chike.

Daniella shook her head, “He’s…nobody.”

Ugo lifted an eyebrow, "Really? Because you looked pretty angry when he entered the classroom."

"Umm, he just looks like bad news, that's all."

"Okay."

Christina looked at Ugo and Daniella from a distance. Daniella appeared as if she was bothered by something. 

“Krystian, I'll be right back," Christina said trying to avoid any time spent with him. And check up on Daniella of course (why else would she leave).

"Okay," he replied.

Christina walked over to Daniella and asked, "Hey, do you know him?" She pointed at Chike.

'Looks like they were both thinking the same thing,' Daniella thought. "Ugo had already asked the same thing and no," Daniella replied.

"Then why-" 

She was suddenly interrupted by an annoyed Daniella, “Ugh, just… don't worry about it.” 

Christina was confused, “If you say so.”

"Someone's in a bad mood," Ugo muttered. 

Suddenly the bell rang. 

"Finally! No more quality time with you-know-who," Christina cheered, "I have to leave befo-" 

She suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked up. 'Shit.' It was Krystian. "Hey..." Christina said nervously.

"Hi, so, um, do you want to come over to my house after school to work on the music project?" Krystian asked.

"Uhh..." she began. 

Ugo then stepped in. "She'd LOVE to!" she replied for her.

Christina gave Ugo her signature death glare. It was the moment Ugo knew she was screwed.

"So, can we walk together to my house after school?" he asked.

"Well, actually..." Christina began again.

Daniella then figured it was her turn to step in. "She'd love to!" Daniella smiled.

'They're SO DEAD.' Christina thought angerly.

"Great see you after school!" Krystian waved to her. 

Christina nodded and sighed. Daniella and Ugo looked at Christina nervously. Christina looked at them and sighed again. 'I'll get them back someday,' she thought.

As the three were leaving the classroom, Chike was trying to find a way to make Matthew shut up. For some reason, Matthew was following Chike after class.

‘Does he think we’re friends now? This guy is the exact definition of annoying! Why can't he just leave me alone? That's it!’ Chike thought. 

"Look, dude, just leave me alone, comprendé?" Chike said sternly. 

Matthew smiled and backed off. 

Chike leaned against his locker, 'So people just stay here doing nothing until the bell rings? Well, that's a waste of time! I should prepare my shadows to disperse throughout the school.'

Just as he was about to summon his shadows, he saw Janna with her earth friends out of the corner of his eye. 'Great' he thought sarcastically.

Janna was walking in the halls with Christine and Paty when she suddenly saw her brother. 

Her eyes grew wide and she immediately thought, 'Oh HELL NO!' Janna then nervously told her friends, "Umm, I'll be right back. I need to go somewhere."

"Where?" Christine asked.

"Somewhere, don't ask," Janna replied. She stormed off towards Chike.

"Hello little sister," Chike said uncaringly.

"Don't 'little sister' me! What the hell are you doing here!?" Janna shouted.

Chike smirked, "My job."

"Well, can you do it somewhere else? You're attracting unwanted attention to yourself."

"I know what I'm doing. So, if you don't mind, stay out of my way."

Janna sighed, “Fine."

Then the bell rang and they both went to their separate classes.

The day continued normally for Daniella but, she still couldn't believe that her arch nemesis was enrolled in the same high school as her. They even share all the same classes! Talk about bad luck. 

Anyways, in the meantime, she watched over Christina and Krystian seeing if there was any progress being made between the two. It was going fine but they were still too shy to talk to each other properly. In no time at all, it was the end of the day.

Christina met up with Krystian at the front of the school. "My house is down the block," he said.

"Okay," replied Christina.

They started to walk together oblivious to the fact that Cupid was watching them. 

"Stalker much?" Vianne suddenly said through the comm. 

“Haha… very funny Vianne. You know, when you’re Cupid like me, stalking is a part of the job description. But, it’s all in good fun,” Daniella said. 

“Ha! So, what's your plan?" Vianne asked.

"Well, it's been a month and though it's very clear that they like each other, they haven't made much progress in expressing that. So, it's time to give them a little push...!" Daniella explained. 

She grabbed something from out of her ‘bag', "...with one of THESE BABIES!" Daniella smiled, holding one of her arrows. "Ahh, I missed these," she said.

Daniella continued to watch the soon-to-be pair, as they walked to Krystian's house. "So," he turned to Christina, "my mom made some cookies, do you want some when we get there?"

"Sure," Christina responded quietly.

Krystian frowned. 'Why is she always so quiet when I'm around? Why is it when I get near her, she wants to run away? Does she hate me or something?' he thought.

They were still walking when Krystian stood in front of Christina, stopping them in their tracks. "Hey, did I do something to make you hate me?"

Daniella was seconds away from shooting her arrow when she heard what Krystian said. "Wait, what's happening" Daniella questioned. Vianne spoke into the comm, "Oooh, this is getting juicy!"

Christina looked at Krystian surprised. 'What the hell?! Why would I hate him?' she thought. “What? I don’t hate you,” Christina replied.

"Then why do you always avoid me?" Krystian asked.

"Because... because," Christina said nervously, trying to think of what to say.

"Because?" Krystian asked.

"Because... I like you..." she said so quietly that you could barely hear her.

"Sorry, what was that?" 

"Nothing!" Christina said quickly.

"Look, let's just forget about the past alright?. Can we just start over? I really want to be friends.”

Christina smiled directly at him. "Sure," she said.

He smiled and stuck out his hand, "Krystian."

She smiled and shook his hand, “Christina."

They continued to walk to his house.

From a distance, Daniella was fangirling. "Awww, that was so sweet. I guess I didn't need my arrow after all," Cupid said. She put away her arrow, “Well, they’ll good for now. Time to focus on another pairing. They’ll need my attention more now than ever.”


	10. The Troublemaker

The next day it was chemistry. It was Chike's first class as well as Daniella's. He was partnered up with Matthew (again), which was unfortunate to him.

Chike was very bored during this class, glancing around at the colourful chemicals, that were scattered around the classroom. 

'How sickening. Not a single shade of black, seems like Cupid's taste,' He thought. Suddenly Chike smirked, 'I guess I'll have to... change that.'

Chike grabbed a beaker full of white chemicals. He slowly glanced at Matthew, who was carefully paying attention to the professor's instructions. 

Chike shook his head. 'Goody-two-shoes,' he thought. 

He then glanced at Cupid, who was happily mixing chemicals, and made a face of disgust. ‘Gross, Cupid’s happiness… how irritating,’ Chike thought again.

He turned back to his own beaker. He reached into the inside pocket of his uniform and pulled out a single black leaf. 

Chike suddenly stared at his uniform. 'Urgh! I still can't believe that I have to wear this disgusting uniform. Why is it so colourful? Honestly! I wish I could just burn it,' he thought.

Suddenly, Chike grinned like the Cheshire cat. 'Time to add the KEY ingredient,' he thought again. 

Chike dropped the black leaf into his beaker. A huge explosion shook the classroom. 

"Not again!!" a random student yelled.

"I guess we have another Daniella in the class," another student said.

Daniella and Chike were both shocked and both thought at the exact same time, 'How dare they compare me to him/her!' 

Anyway, the leaf dissolved and turned the white liquid black. 

Chike let out an evil laugh. Everybody in the chemistry lab looked at him. 

Daniella frowned and thought to herself, 'Seriously? Making poison in a high school full of mortals? Not only is that low, but it's extremely dangerous!' 

Matthew started at Chike's creation in awe. "Woah! How'd you do that?" Matthew asked.

Chike looked at him and bluntly said, "I just did."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Poison."

"Awesome, so why-"

"No more questions !" Chike yelled, interrupting Matthew.

Everyone turned away not wanting to provoke, the already angry, Chike. 

Matthew laughed, "You're funny when you're angry."

Chike glared at him in surprise. 'Funny? Never heard that one before. I've been called many things: Cruel, Heartless, Evil, Cold, but not funny. Why does he always laugh at me? If anything he should be scared. He better not be mocking me,’ Chike thought.

The professor marched over to Chike's table. "Young man, get that dangerous substance out of the classroom immediately or I'll be forced to call the principal!" he instructed.

"I'm not scared of any principal," Chike talked back.

"Don't give me that attitude! You should learn not to disrespect your elders especially the principal!" the professor said raising his voice.

'What elders?' Chike thought. "Why should I learn to do something that has no value? I am more superior than everyone else!" Chike stated. 

He smirked. 'Especially Cupid,' he thought.

The professor fumed and shouted, "Now you've crossed the line, mister! Go to the principal's office right now!"

Chike rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said leaving the classroom. 

The entire class was silent.

The professor frowned. "Hmpph, that student needs to learn some manners," he huffed. 

Ugo crossed her arms. “Well, um, that happened,” she said.

Daniella facepalmed. 'Why am I related to him?' she thought.

Chike made his way to the office. There, he encountered the secretary, Mrs. Crackpot. 

When she saw him, she smiled and said, "Hello, my name's Mrs. Crackpot, how may I help you?"

'First, by changing that ugly last name of yours,' he thought. "I'm here to see the principal," He said bluntly. 

"Oh, did you get in trouble?"

"No, I didn't. I'm here to chitchat and have a tea party with the principal. Of course, I'm in trouble! Why else would I need to see him?"

Mrs. Crackpot was shocked, "I can see why. Well, he's in his office, as always." She pointed to the principal's door.

Chike opened the door and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, with his arms crossed.

The principal turned around in his comfy chair. "Which juvenile delinquent do I have in my office today?" he said. 

The principal looked at the annoyed Chike. "Well, I haven't seen you here before. A new student and you're already breaking rules? Shame, shame, shame, shame," he shook his head in disappointment.

Chike rolled his eyes.

"In case you already didn't already know, my name's Mr. Burke," he introduced himself. "What did you do to get yourself in trouble, new boy?" Mr. Burke asked.

Chike smirked. "I created poison and talked back to the teacher," he responded. 

"Poison? How in the world did you do that?!" Mr. Burke asked, a bit surprised.

"I'm not here to answer silly questions so get on with my punishment, will ya?" Chike said annoyed.

Mr. Burke raised an eyebrow. "Attitude I see. Well, I think you deserve a month of detention," he stated.

"Whatever," Chike said.

"You are to meet me here every day after school, understand?"

"Whatever."

Chike got up from his seat and was ready to leave when Mr. Burke asked him, "Hold on, I didn't get your name."

"Chike," Chike responded.

'Odd. I've never heard of a name like Chike before,' Mr. Burke thought. "It was a pleasure to meet you Chike. Or maybe not," he said.

Chike rolled his eyes and left the office. "This kid is, without a doubt, a troublemaker," Mr. Burke said out loud.

Back in the chemistry lab…

“You're all dismissed," the professor announced. Everyone was packing up their things. 

Daniella was deep in thought. She was thinking of all the possible bad things that Chike could conjure up in this school. 

Even though the two of them are of equal power, it will still be a challenge for Daniella to stop all of the shadows that Chike will summon. She simply can't let the darkness take over the school. 

Daniella was both angry and worried about the situation. She needed to calm down. Then she remembered that it was lunch. Daniella's mind filled with thoughts of the delicious earth food that the cafeteria served.

She saw Ugo, who was still packing up her bag. "Ugo, hurry up! I'm starving!" Daniella yelled eagerly.

"Coming!" Ugo said. She finished packing up, grabbed her jacket and left the classroom with Daniella.

The two headed towards the cafeteria and met up with Christina, who looked happier than usual. 

Daniella smiled. She knew exactly who was making Christina feel so cheerful and his name started with a ‘K’. 

"What are you so happy about?" Ugo asked.

Christina jumped excitedly. "I have something to tell you guys! Something BIG!" Christina yelled.

"Okay, then tell us!" Ugo said eagerly.

"Yeah!" Daniella added.

Christina then proceeded to explain what had happened yesterday after school. 

After that, Ugo and Daniella both gave Christina the look and said at the same time, “Ooooohh."

"Oh, shut up," Christina said, blushing.

"So, are you guys a thing now?" Ugo asked curiously.

Christina suddenly slapped Ugo. "No..." she said blushing even more.

"Whatever you say..." Daniella and Ugo said simultaneously. 

On the other side of the cafeteria, Chike was holding his tray full of food, wondering where to sit for lunch. 

He wanted to sit alone but the tables were all full of people.

He glanced at Janna's table but Chike didn't feel like bothering her and her friends.

Chike would HARDLY sit near Cupid so he had only one choice... sitting at Matthew's table. 

Chike groaned in despair, knowing that it was his only option. He approached the table and sat down without saying anything to Matthew or Matthew's friends.

Everyone stared at Chike who was casually eating his food.

"Oh, hey Chike!" Matthew greeted. 

"Whatever," Chike said.

"Well, let me introduce you to my friends! This is Alfred, Trisha, Mercede, Gabriel, Elvin, Anej, Hannah and Steven," Matthew said pointing to them respectively.

"Ok," Chike said, unamused.

Anej looked at him. "I can't believe you created poison in the chemistry lab! You almost blew it up, just like Daniella almost did," she said.

Chike frowned. "Don't compare me to her!" he fumed.

"Okay..." Anej said surprised.

Elvin shook his head, "Shame." 

Anej laughed.

'I'm NOTHING like Cupid!' Chike thought angrily. 

Speaking of Cupid...

Daniella glanced around the cafeteria, wondering if there was maybe another outstanding ship. Suddenly, one caught her eye. She noticed the red string of fate connecting two soulmates together.

Unfortunately, Daniella didn't know their names so she needed to ask Vianne about the biographies. 

She looked at Ugo and Christina. She couldn't speak to Vianne while she was with them. "Guys, I'm going to the washroom. I'll be right back," Daniella said.

"Okay," Ugo replied.

"But hurry up, lunch is almost over!" Christina added.

"Okay," Daniella said leaving.

When she arrived at the washroom, Daniella quickly checked inside to see if the coast was clear. 

As soon as the last person left the washroom, she went in.

"Vianne! I spotted another ship!" Daniella said, speaking into the comm. 

"Oh, who?" Vianne replied.

"That's the thing, I don't know. Could you search the cafeteria for the two people sitting next to Matthew, at Chike's table?" Daniella instructed. 

Vianne looked at the monitor and immediately saw who Daniella was talking about. She pulled at the biographies and searched for their picture.

"Their names are Elvin and Anej," Vianne said.

"Okay, now I have three ships to watch over. Thanks! Talk to you later," Daniella said.

"Bye."

Just then, the bell rang. Daniella hurried to meet up with Ugo and Christina. She now had three ships to keep track of.

The rest of the school day passed by quickly. Before they knew it, it was time to go home. 

Ugo arrived home dead (not literally) because of all the homework she had to do.

She took off her jacket and began to look at it closely.

It seemed... bigger.

Ugo inspected it more and said out loud to herself, "This isn't my jacket."

She quickly looked at the name tag. Her eyes suddenly grew wide.

It said 'Property of Alfred Carrera’.


	11. A Calm and Stressful Day

After figuring out who the jacket belonged to, Ugo began to have a mental breakdown. 

“No. No. No! This can’t be happening!” Ugo exclaimed, “Oh my god! How could I have taken the wrong jacket?!” She faced palmed. 

“I’m going to have to give this back to him on Monday… but I need my jacket and I can’t just wear his. Ugh, that would be so weird”, Ugo mumbled.

She sighed, “I guess this leaves me with no choice… I need to meet up with him over the weekend to get my jacket back.”

A moment of silence passed.

“Hm, I don’t have his number,” Ugo realized.

She began to think of all the possible people she could get his number from. She knew she couldn’t ask Daniella since she was a new student and all. She knew she couldn’t ask Christina cause she didn’t really talk to any of the boys in their school. She couldn’t ask anyone else because she wasn’t as close to them as she was to Daniella and Christina. 

Ugo was pondering on what to do. She suddenly heard a buzzing sound coming from her phone. She to check what it was. It was a notification from unstagram. 

Just then, Ugo had a revelation. She could just contact him by unstagram. However, that would mean she would have to follow him. Man, was Ugo dreading that. She opened up the app and went to search for his account. It took some time but she eventually found the right account. As she expected it was a private account.

Just as she was about to press ‘follow’ she said to herself, “I’m so gonna regret this.” She pressed ‘follow’ and it said ‘follow request sent’.

Ugo looked at her phone and pressed two fingers at her temple. “Welp, that just happened,” she said.

She then proceeded to have a mini meltdown. 

“Great! Now I have to wait in suspense for a response. Oh, who am I kidding. He might not even accept my request. That would be so embarrassing,” Ugo rambled on. 

Meanwhile, in the empty hallways of GoldenHearts Central Highschool, there was an empty classroom. Inside the classroom sat Chike, the Cupid of Darkness. It was his first day of detention because he had made poison in his chemistry class. 

An old professor stood at the front of the classroom. She began to say what was to transpire during the next hour and a half.

She said in an old lady western tone, “Alright young man. You’re going to stay here for the next hour and a half and think about what you have done. And because this is detention, you’re going to have to follow some rules. Rule number one: No talking. Rule number two: No electronics. Rule number three: No leaving the classroom. Rule num….” 

Chike zoned out. ‘Ugh. Will this granny ever finish? I can’t take much more of her voice,’ he thought to himself.

After what seemed like forever, the professor had said every single rule. There must have been about 50 rules. 

She walked over to Chike and said, “Alright young man. You heard rule number two. Now hand it over.”

Chike looked at her confused. “What?” He questioned.

“You know, that thingy. Your electronic device.”

“Oh, I have no such thing.”

The professor looked at him in surprise. “But, don’t all you kids have those do-hickies these days?”

Chike looked at her expressionless and said, “No.”

“Well, alright then…” she said suspiciously, “Now don’t you go do any funny business. I’ll be back in an hour and thirty minutes.” She then exited the classroom.

Chike sat in the desk for about 5 minutes. 

“Yea, no. I’m not staying here,” he stated while standing up.

He summoned his shadows and commanded them to scout out the school. By doing this he’ll be able to know exactly where everyone in the school is and avoid them as well. Once he knew that the coast was clear he walked out of the classroom and into the halls. 

He began to roam around the school looking into classrooms, going up and down the stairs all while avoiding everyone. One time he stumbled upon two teachers in a classroom who were making out with each other. 

“Bleh, what an unpleasant sight,” he complains. Out of habit, he sent out his shadow, with some of his dark essence, towards the couple. As soon as the shadow touched the couple they immediately broke apart. 

They made outraged faces at each other and began to argue.

Chike smirked happily and walked away. ‘Finally, my one good deed of the day… or should I say bad deed,’ he darkly chuckled to himself. 

He continued to roam the halls of the school. Eventually, Chike ran into a dead end hallway with a door labeled ‘Rooftop Entrance’. 

He stared at the door with a blank expression. He was curious about what was on the other side of this door so, he tried to open it; however, it was locked. 

Unknownst to Chike, all the students in the school are forbidden to go onto the rooftop of the school, for safety reasons. 

Although the door was locked it didn’t stop him from getting inside. He conjured up one of his shadows and manipulated it to pick the lock of the door. After a couple of seconds, Chike heard a click. He grabbed hold of the handle and opened the door.

The first thing he saw was stairs that lead up to another door. He looked up and thought, ‘Interesting.’ Summoning his shadows, he levitated himself up the stairs remembering to close the door behind him. 

Once at the top of the stairs, he reached the second door. He grabbed the handle and to his surprise it was unlocked.

He opened the door and was immediately welcomed by a gust of wind hitting his face. After composing himself, Chike stepped out onto the rooftop and was quite impressed by the late afternoon view.

The sky was an ethereal blue, partially covered by translucent clouds with no sun in sight. To the average person, it was a breathtaking view but, to Chike, it was mediocre at the least. 

Chike slowly walked up to the edge of the roof, basking in the freshness of the air. He sat down at the edge, dangling his feet off of the roof and laying back against his hands. 

‘Hmm, this seems nice. I think I’ll just chill here for the hour. No teachers, no cupid, no annoying little sister. Just me, myself and I,’ Chike thought to himself. 

Pretty soon it was time to go back to the classroom where he would get dismissed by the old teacher. Once he was dismissed, he exited the school and entered an alleyway where he opened up a portal back to his home. 

Chike entered the portal and was immediately transported back to his lair. He exited his lair and began to roam around the halls of the mansion. 

Shortly, he entered the living room where he spotted Janna sitting on the couch. She was doing something on her phone. 

Janna then looked up and saw him standing there. “Where have you been, all this time?” Janna questioned.

“In detention,” Chike replied.

“You’ve only been there two days and you already have detention. Ugh, why am I not surprised?” she said.

Janna got up off of the couch and left the living room saying, “Oh, brother of mine.” She sighed.

Many minutes after Janna had left, Chike sat down on the couch staring straight ahead. With a sad smile placed on his face, he said, “It’s good to see you too, little sister.”

After an hour and 30 minutes, Ugo had finally calmed down from her meltdown. (yea it took that long for her to cool down)

“You know what I should just distract myself. Why don’t I finish reading that ebook on my phone,” she said to herself.

Ugo picked up her phone and was about to unlocked it when she noticed something. It was a notification from unstagram. Curious, she unlocked her phone and went onto the app.

It was a text message from Alfred that said ‘Hey’.


	12. The Exchange

It was a text message from Alfred that said ‘Hey’.

After receiving that message, Ugo dropped her phone in shock. 

Ugo gasped, “Oh my god. He accepted my request and actually texted me. Wha…?”

‘I was positive that he would’ve just delete my request. Huh, guess I was wrong. Dang it! I really don’t want to talk to this guy but, I gotta get my jacket back. Ugh…” she thought to herself.

Ugo looked down at her phone that was still on the floor. She sighed, bent down and reluctantly picked it up. 

She stood up and went to sit down on her couch. Ugo took a deep breath and texted him back.

A: Hey

U: Hi

A: so like  
apparently  
I took ur jacket  
By mistake

U: Yea  
And I have urs  
But  
I’d like my jacket back  
Pls 

A: same  
I want my jacket back 2

“Welp, this is awkward. What do I say now?” Ugo complained after neither of them had texted for a minute.

A: So…  
U want 2 meet up  
Over the weekend  
2 switch back r jackets?

U: Well  
No duh

Ugo and Alfred texted back and forth deciding on where and when to meet up so that they could get back their own jackets. After a couple of minutes, they finally decided on where to meet up. They agreed to meet at the park near their school, tomorrow after lunch since it was the weekend. 

They said their (very awkward) goodbyes to each other and went offline.

Ugo dropped her phone onto the couch cushion and stared up at the ceiling. 

“Okay… This isn’t too bad. At least I’ll get my jacket back, right?” She said trying to think of the bright side of her situation (thanks to Daniella’s optimistic influence). 

Ugo groaned and face palmed.

Meanwhile with Daniella and Vianne…

“So according to Anej’s biography, she likes funny guys. Well, I can’t argue with that. Everyone likes a bit of a sense of humour,” Daniella said reviewing Anej’s biography.

“Yup. It says here that Elvin is well-known for his jokes and sense of humour,” Vianne added on, looking at Elvin’s biography.

Right after school had ended, Cupid returned to HQ and resumed her duties. After discovering the new soul-couple, Daniella was determined to know more about their personalities and interests. She, along with Vianne pulled up their biographies and began to read about them and their moments together. 

A long time ago Cupid had created a spell so that whenever a ‘moment’ happened between a soul-couple it would automatically be recorded on each of the involved person’s biography, along with the emotions they felt at the time. This made it easier for Daniella to understand the person she was reading about and help them to get with their soul-mate. 

Like, for example, when Christina was accidentally pushed on fell on to Krystian. This moment was recorded on both of their biographies at the exact moment it was happening. 

“…yup that one will definitely be memorable,” Daniella laughed while looking at the exampled memory. 

Vianne agreed.

Daniella continued to look into the biographies of the soul-couples she was watching over. Finally, she reached Ugo and Alfred’s biographies. 

“This is definitely the most slow developing one of the three since they don’t like each other yet. But, I like the challenge. It makes my job all the more exciting,” Daniella said confidently.

“Yea, couples that are sweet and simple are nice but, the ones that take more time to come together are the ones that we’ll remember the most. There are billions of lovers around the world and only one cupid. I could just imagine how hard it would be for you to remember every single one,” Vianne explain.

“Yea, I don’t have enough brain capacity for that,” Daniella joked. She sighed, “This weekends is going to feel so long. I can’t wait till I get back to school on Monday. I can just sense that something good is going to happen.”

The next day….

Ugo was preparing for her little meet up with Alfred, not that she was looking forward to it. She dressed warmly with thermal pants and a big sweater with many layers underneath. Ugo grabbed Alfred’s jacket, holding it securely in her arms and headed towards her destination.

Ugo to the park where they both decided o meet at. Despite having worn many layers, she still felt a bit chilly but that was reasonable since it was late October and becoming colder (as well as the fact that she wasn’t wearing a jacket and refused to wear his).

When she arrived at the park, Ugo found a bench and sat down waiting patiently for Alfred to come. She sat on the bench for a few minutes, conserving her warmth and waiting for Alfred to come with her jacket. 

Meanwhile, a few feet away was Alfred waling towards the park. When he first discovered that he didn’t have his jacket, Alfred was just about to go to his basket ball practice session. It didn’t take him long to realize that the jacket he had wasn’t his own. After a few seconds of searching for a name, he found out that he had taken Ugo’s jacket by mistake probably when he was cleaning up one of the classes. 

He was shocked at first but then began to think about how Ugo reacted to finding out she had his jacket. Alfred thought he her feel very awkward because of the whole situation. On one hand he feels as if he’s ruining his cool reputation by having taken Ugo’s jacket by accident but on the other hand he feels bad about putting her in this position.

So, when he saw that she followed him on unstagram, at first he was surprised. But, he then realized that it was his chance to make amends. ‘i just hope this isn’t going to be as awkward as I think it’ll be,’ Alfred thought.

He finally arrived at the park. Alfred saw Ugo was sitting on one side of a bench by herself. He decided to sit down on the other side of the bench. Alfred walked over and sat down. 

Ugo noticed that someone had sat down beside her. She looked towards the person who was sitting beside her and realized that it was Alfred. However, he was looking away from her trying to avoid eye contact. Ugo assumed that she was going to have to take the initiative here.

“Hey. Um, I’m sorry for taking your jacket by mistake,” Ugo apologized. When she said that it gave Alfred the cue to talk to her. 

He looked at her. “Nah, it was my fault. Don’t worry about it,” Alfred replied trying to act cool.

“Uh, ok. Here’s your jacket back,” Ugo said while handing it to him. Once Alfred took back his jacket, Ugo crossed her arms to conserve warmth since some of the heat she had from the jacket went away.

Alfred noticed this and by instinct he took her jacket and put it around her shoulders. He stood up, turned around and looked down at her. Then, he gave her a genuine smile that she had never seen him do before.

Ugo was shocked to say the least. She hadn’t really expected this kind of behaviour from him but none the less it was somewhat appreciated. Although, she was still very surprised. Ugo looked up to him smiling and was once again shocked.

“Uh, thank you,” she said genuinely.

“No problem Ugonna,” Alfred replied.

“Call me Ugo.”


	13. An Interesting way to end a Sunday

It was the day after the meetup and Daniella was feeling anxious. She was thrilled to go back to school on Monday but, she needed to let out all of her happy energy somehow.

“That’s it! I can’t just stay here, waiting impatiently for what tomorrow brings! I need to go out and do something. Something fun,” Daniella complained tapping her chin, “What do you think, Vianne?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Maybe we could take a stroll through a city. You know? Enjoy enjoy the fresh air,” Vianne replied.

Daniella thought for a bit, “Yeah! I like the sound of that. A little trip would be beneficial for the both of us.”

“I kinda miss how it was like to just walk around in the cities of earth. Not that I remember much from then since I was just a kid when I left,” Vianne said getting a feeling of nostalgia.

Now Daniella began to feel bad. She put her hand on Vianne’s shoulder and said, “Oh, I… I never fully realized how much of your childhood I took away from you. I can tell that the orphanage meant a great deal for you.”

“Yeah… I admit I do sometimes miss the friends I had there, wondering how their lives are going and if they finally they the families that they deserve. But, that’s really all in the past. Besides, I live with you now and I couldn’t be happier,” Vianne explained.

“I guess you’re right Vianne. But, I just feel that you not experiencing a normal childhood was mostly my fault. Who knows? If I hadn’t come maybe you would’ve been adopted by real parents and had a real family.”

“Daniella, please don’t feel sad. I know asking me to be your helper was kind of random but it brought me here. You gave me the offer of a lifetime and it brought so much excitement and adventure into my life. The orphanage was my home and I won’t forget it but, this is the dream I never knew I had. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you.”

Daniella was almost in tears. “Oh Vianne, you’re the sister I never knew I had!” she exclaimed while going over to Vianne giving her a big hug.

“Same here,” Vianne said hugging back.

A few minutes passed with Daniella crying even more.

“Okay, okay, Daniella. You’re okay, you’re okay. That’s enough crying,” Vianne reassured.

Daniella sniffed hard, “Haha, sorry. I’m an emotional person.”

“Welp, let’s go get some fresh air now to brighten our mood,” Vianne stated.

“I wouldn’t have said it any better,” Daniella smiled.

At the same, Chike was sitting at his desk in his office. He was watching his monitor, looking for any opportunities to spread hate in the world. So far, none of the options had piqued his interest and he was starting to get bored.

‘Hm, this a waste of my time. Why is it that the only interesting things that happen are when I’m at that school? I hate that place! And they call where I live hell?! Well, that’s absurd,’ Chike ranted in his head, ‘But, I’m so bored right now, I don’t what to do. I’ll ask Dark Phoenix for some ideas.’

“Dark Phoenix!” Chike yelled.

Immediately, Dark Phoenix was summoned and appeared in front of Dark Cupid. He did his salute and said, “You called, my lord?”

“At ease. Indeed I did. I’m feeling quite a bit dissatisfied with my day so far and I’m not sure what to about it,” Chike said.

“If I may speak my Lord, there are many ways to relieve your dissatisfaction,” Phoenix said.

“What do you suggest, Phoenix?” Chike inquired.

“Well, you could continue monitoring the earth’s inhabitants,” Phoenix replied.

“No, I’ve already done that.”

“You could spend time with Lady Janna, perhaps?”

“Yea-no. That’s a terrible idea. She couldn’t want to spend time time with me even if you forced her beside, I don’t want to either,” Chike explained.

“Well, why not read some books in the grand library?”

“What? What am I? A nerd? Leave that to my little sister,” he exclaimed

“My Lord, why don’t you take a nap? You seem a little under the weather today,” Phoenix recommended.

“Nonsense. I’m not tired. I just need to do something to aleve my boredom,” Chike replied a bit annoyed.

“Oh! Then, why don’t you go take a walk in the city like you prefer to do?” Phoenix asked.

“Hm, that’s actually not a bad idea,” Chike said satisfied.

Vianne and Daniella were walking through the city in their human form as to not attract attention from any mortals. They were having a great time but soon felt a bit hungry. They decided to stop by a bakery nearby and grab a cupcake or two.

“Ahhh, I can already taste those delicious cupcakes,” Daniella said hungrily.

“Same,” Vianne said with the same amount of craving.

They were headed towards the bakery when Daniella spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was a pair of friends sitting outside of the bakery at one of the tables. At first, Daniella didn’t notice anything out of place but then she took a closer. 

If you were look closely at Daniella, her usual brown eyes glowed pink. This meant that she was look upon the red string of fate. This discovery of a soul couple made Daniella squeal in happiness. 

Vianne noticed this and asked, “What is it? Did you find another soul-couple?” knowing that was probably why Daniella was so happy.

Daniella nodded in confirmation. “Let’s enforce a little bit of love today,” she said cheerfully.

Secretively, Daniella reached into a compartment on her belt. In it was an on the go vial of her love potion. She always kept a spare vial in case of situations just like this where she couldn’t use her arrows out in the open. She opened the vial and dipped her finger into it only getting a very small amount of the potion onto her finger (too much could be catastrophic).

She raised her hand to eye level and began to twirl it in a kind of erratic but elegant manner. While she did this, the sunshine rays began to wrap around her finger, entwining with the small amount of potion as well.

As Chike had the power to control shadow for his benefit, Daniella also had the power to control light rays and contort it to her will. This is a more convenient and simple alternative to her arrows.

Once she determined that she had enough light rays wrapped around her finger, she quickly shot it at the pair. In the air, the light ray split in two. Each had a bit of the potion on them and hit both people individually at the same time.

Immediately, the soul-couple began to act very lovey-dovey with each other. 

Daniella looked at them satisfied with the hard work she had done. She didn’t think anything could ruin this but then she noticed a familiar shadow creeping towards the couple. 

In a matter of seconds, they went from love birds to angry birds. 

Shocked, Daniella turned to look at the source of the shadow. It was none other than Dark Cupid. 

“Oh no,” Vianne groaned, looking towards the person Daniella was looking at.

‘Out of all the places in the world that Chike could have chosen, WHY did he have to come here? Is it bad that all I want to do is spread love? I think not,’ Daniella complained to herself, ‘Ugh, Daniella stay cool. There’s no way you’re letting him ruin your day.’

Taking a deep breath, Daniella composed herself. She gathered up another light-ray laced with her potion and shot it towards the couple, immediately making them turn back to being lovey-dovey with each other. 

Looking at Chike, Daniella smiled, turned around and started to walk away.

Chike saw what she did and raised an eyebrow. ‘Does she really think I’d give up that easily? Foolish,’ he thought shaking his head. Once more, Chike gathered up his shadows and shot them towards the couple. Instantly, when it hit, the couple began to argue again. 

Daniella stopped in her tracks having sensed that the work she’d done had been reversed. She turned around to sees that the couple was arguing and a smug Chike standing a little ways from them. 

Daniella took a deep sigh, still very calm about the situation. Once again, with her whole hand she gathered up more light-rays laced with her potion and shot it towards the couple.

The instant it hit them, all of Chike effects had been reversed and they were lovey-dovey once more.

With a blank face, Chike undid what Daniella had done.

Now Daniella was starting to get frustrated. ‘Why does he have to be so stubborn?’ she complained to herself.

She then again redid what she had done to the couple.

This pattern continued on for quite some time with each of them getting more frustrated with each other the longer it lasted. Their stubbornness wouldn’t let either of them yield to the other. 

At one point, it got so serious that Daniella and Chike both had shot a light-ray and shadow, respectively, at the same time. The both of them hit the couple at the same time, rendering the couple to become just friends. When both the powers of Cupid and Dark Cupid come into contact with a couple at the same, the powers neutralize each other making them become friends.

At the same time they both said, “Great, they’re friends,” but with Daniella having said it in a more disappointed tone and Chike having said it in a more annoyed tone.

In the time that this was happening, Vianne had gotten bored, knowing this would last for awhile and went into the bakery to get herself a cupcake. By the time she came back, Daniella and Chike were at a stalemate with each other.

“Daniella, it’s no use. You guys aren’t gonna get anywhere by doing this,” Vianne said to Daniella.

Daniella turned towards her. “But Vianne, did you see what happened? Now the couple is neu-” she started to say but immediately stopped because she noticed the cupcake Vianne was holding. Daniella gasped. “Vianne you got a cupcake without me?!” she whined. 

“Well, I wasn’t just gonna stand here and plus I’m hungry,” Vianne said taking another bite of her cupcake.

Daniella was in a dilemma. On one hand she wanted to fulfill her duty but on the other hand she wanted that cupcake. She kept looking back and forth between the couple and the bakery with sad puppy dog eyes. 

Meanwhile, Chike was looking in confusion at the two of them talking. “What the heck are they talking about?” he questioned to himself.

Finally, Daniella gave up. She sighed and said, “Fine. You’re right, Vianne. It’s not worth it. THIS IS only one couple out of the many in the whole world.”

“Great! Let’s go,” Vianne exclaimed. She grabbed Daniella’s arm and walked away with her.

Chike saw the both of them walking away. ‘Running away? Ha, I knew I was superior. But, now it’s not fun anymore and the couple isn’t even in love so I guess it’s okay,’ Chike thought shrugging his shoulders.

He too, turned and walked away.

The both of them parted ways, each one somewhat dissatisfied with the outcome of the situation.


	14. Developments (We couldn't think of a smarter title)

It was finally Monday morning and Chike was dreading going to his first period class, which was Chemistry. The last time he was there, he had been sent to the principal’s office and earned himself a month’s worth of detention. He was only having some fun, in his opinion.

He walked into the classroom and immediately noticed Matthew sitting at his table doing some work. Chike groaned. He finds it very annoying to be in the same room with him, let alone sitting next to him.

Taking a deep sigh, Chike walked over to his seat. He dropped his bag next to his chair, sat down and place his head on the desk. Slowly, his eyes began to close.

All of a sudden he felt something be put on his head and on top of his ears. Chike’s eyes sprang open and began to feel the foreign object on his head in confusion. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked towards Matthew.

Matthew smiled and pointed to something he wrote on his paper.

In curiosity and confusion, Chike leaned over and began read to what it said,

‘ _I noticed that you’re a bit tired coming into class today. I gave you my noise cancelling headphones so that you’ll be able to catch some sleep. I’ll wake you up right before the bell rings.’_

After reading the note, Chike looked up at Matthew and raised an eyebrow. He was confused as to why Matthew would do this for him. He barely knows him. But, his actions remind him of someone. Dismissing that thought, Chike did a slight nod at him and laid his head back down this time facing Matthew.

Giving a big grin, Matthew turned back and continued to work.

Chike continued to stare at Matthew, thinking about nothing and somethings at the same time. Eventually, his eyes grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

True to his word, Matthew had woken up Chike right before class had begun.

Although, it was halfway through class Chike hadn’t been paying attention at all to the lesson. He was simply sitting in his seat, very annoyed at his arch-nemesis’s behaviour.

Daniella was enthusiastically trying to answer every question the teacher asked and got disappointed whenever the teacher didn’t pick on her to answer.

The professor wanted to give everyone a chance since Daniella had already answered plenty of question already.

The professor looked around the class and noticed that Chike wasn’t paying attention what-so-ever. ‘That slacker,’ the professor thought, ‘first he creates a dangerous substances without following instructions and now he isn’t paying to my lesson. Let’s see if he actually knows his stuff.’

Meanwhile, Chike was still bothered by the fact that Daniella was still trying to answer all the questions the teacher asked. ‘Ugh, I could answer these questions just as easily as Cupid could. I just don’t care enough to raise up my hand,’ he thought rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Chike heard his name being called out by the professor and looked towards the professor.

“Mr. Lim, you would care to answer this question on the board since. it seems that you already know the content of this lesson?” The professor asked.

Chike rolled his eyes, ‘Out of everyone in the class, he just had to pick me.’ Chike smirked. ‘Well, jokes on him cause I already know this stuff like second nature,’ he said confidently.

He looked at the question the board. Reading it he thought to himself, ‘This is easy, I know the answer. It’s… uh…. huh.’ Chike was just staring at the board actually confused on what the answer was, ‘This is absurd! I should know what the answer is but, for some reason I don’t.’

At the same time, Daniella thought, ‘Come on, Chike! You should know this.’

While Chike was trying to figure out the answer to this question, he felt someone tap his leg. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Matthew was passing a note to him. Curious, he took the note discreetly and opened it. Chike read it and for a moment he was confused but then he realized that it was the answer to the question on the board.

Quickly dismissing the confusion in his mind, he said the answer to the professor.

The professor looked surprised and thought, ‘Huh, I guess he really does know his stuff. Hmmm, I’ll get him next time though.’

The professor then continued the lesson and Chike turned to look at Matthew.

“Why?” Chike asked Matthew.

Matthew shrugged and simply smiled at Chike before turning his attention back to the lesson.

In another part of the classroom, Ugo was diligently focusing on the lesson the professor was explaining. Soon enough, her mind began to drift away while her eyes glanced around the room. Subconsciously, she stopped glancing around the room and started to stare at a specific person.

Across the room, Alfred had that weird feeling that someone was looking at him. He looked up and scouted the room out of instinct. He then realized that Ugo was the one looking right at him.

As soon as Alfred had made eye contact with Ugo, her eyes refocus and she snapped back to reality. She quickly noticed that she had been staring directly at Alfred all this time and rapidly turns her head away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that Alfred continues to stare at her for a few minutes before turning back to the professor.

She laid her head down on her desk in embarrassment til the end of class.

Just then the bell rang but, everyone was still packing up their things.

Chike finished packing up his things then turned to face Matthew.

While Matthew was putting his things he noticed that Chike was turned towards him. He stopped packing and gave his full attention to Chike.

Chike looked like he wanted to say something but was struggling to find the correct words. Eventually, he spoke.

“Thanks….” he said sincerely. “I still don’t like you though,” he rushed in quickly.

Matthew looked at him in confusion but then asked him, “So.. you still gonna sit with me and my friends at lunch?”

Chike rolled his eyes saying, “Whatever.” He grabbed his bag and swiftly exited the classroom.

* * *

During lunch at the cafeteria, Christina was talking with Daniella and Ugo about what happened during her weekend.

“It was sooo boring. I did nothing except some homework. Seriously my life is so dull,” Christina said exasperated. “What did you do, Daniella?” she asked turning towards Daniella.

“Nothing much really. But, on Sunday I did go on a walk with… my family since we are new in the city,” Daniella explained. “And you, Ugo? How was your weekend?” Daniella inquired.

“Oh, uh. Mine was… interesting,” Ugo said awkwardly.

Daniella and Christina glanced at each other knowingly.

Christina curiously asked, “What happened?”

“Well…” Ugo then proceeded to explain everything that happened to her on the weekend. Although, she didn’t disclose Alfred’s name to her friends knowing they would make a fuss about it.

After she was done explaining, Christina asked, “Wait. Is this person the ‘you-know-who’ person?!”

“Umm,” Ugo said nervously.

“Ha! I knew it! You like him!!!!” Christina exclaimed.

“I do not!” Ugo countered blushing.

“Then why are you blushing?!” Christina teased.

“Well, you’re just teasing me that’s why!”

“Yea, but-”

“Guys stop,” Daniella cut in with a stern tone

They both turned to look at Daniella, anticipating what she was going to do about this.

Daniella turned to Ugo, smiling and said, “So, you DO like him?”

“Not you too!!” Ugo exclaimed.

“I’m just kidding… or am I?” Daniella questioned teasingly.

Daniella then broke out laughing soon followed by Christina and Ugo. Very quickly, the three friends were reduced to a laughing pile.


	15. You Learn Something New Everyday

In music, the whole class was working on their projects with their partners. It’s been a couple of days since they were assigned the project and not much work has been done. So far, most of the class had already chosen the ‘vibe’ that they wanted. Today they were just discussing which type of instruments they wanted to include in it.

Christina and Krystian were working very effectively on the project. They had decided to go for a more pop-ish theme. Right now they were deciding on which instruments would be the best to use, taking into consideration which ones they preferred and the theme.

“So, any suggestions on which instruments we should use?” Christina asked Krystian.

“Hm, I’m not sure. I like to play the guitar though so, maybe we can incorporate it into our song,” he replied.

“Ok then, how about the acoustic guitar? Since, we are going for a pop kind of vibe,” Christina suggested.

“Alright! What do you want to play? What goes with an acoustic guitar?” Krystian questioned.

They sat there for a little bit, thinking of what they could use.

Suddenly, Krystian exclaimed, “Oh! How about a keyboard?”

Christina’s eyes lit up. “Oooh, I like that! I have a lot experience using a keyboard so it works out perfectly,” she exclaimed.

Krystian smiled and said, “I guess we’re both pretty talented musicians.”

Christina blushed, “Yea.”

An awkward silence passed between them.

Sensing the slight awkwardness, he tried to lighten the mood. “Well, now that we have our **_key_** instruments let’s not **_fret_** too much,” he joked.

“Pfft,” Christina said starting to laugh. (If you get that guitar joke, then good for you.)

Daniella and Ugo were also staying on task. They were still deciding on the theme that they wanted to do as well as which instruments to use.

“I already know how to play the electric guitar so, we can include that. What about you?” Ugo said.

“Well, there aren’t many instruments that I’m familiar with but I’m really good at the harp!” Daniella exclaimed.

“The harp?” Ugo questioned.

“Yea, you know? The big thing with strings that goes like this,” Daniella said while making motions with her hand to illustrate how the harp is played.

Ugo rolled her eyes. “I know what a harp is. What I mean is that, the harp is an out-dated instrument.”

“Out-dated?! Have you lost your marbles?!” Daniella joked.

“Marbles…?” Ugo whispered. She shook her head, “I’m pretty sure the school doesn’t even own a harp. Any other suggestions?”

“Oh…” Daniella said surprised.

“Well, what about…” she said looking around the room. Her eyes laid upon a very enormous instrument. “That!” She exclaimed, “I’ve never played the drums before.”

“Oh sure! That would actually sound really good with the electric guitar,” Ugo said.

“Oh perfect then! We’ll use the drums and the electric guitar going for an EDM kind of vibe since it also fits in well with these instruments,” Daniella explained.

“Sure,” Ugo agreed.

Daniella then ran over to the drums and sat down on the stool, grabbing the sticks and holding them up high

“1! 2! 3! 4!” she exclaimed before bringing them down onto the drums playing them at random.

Since she didn’t know how to play them properly, it sounded really bad and it was extremely loud.

Ugo and the whole class had to cover their ears the whole time, cringing at the noise, until Daniella finished playing.

“That was…” Ugo started say.

Daniella interrupted, “Bad. I know. I’m gonna need a lot of practice.”

On the other side of the room, Chike was very annoyed at the noise Daniella had made on the drums.

He said, “I’m so glad that retched sound is over.”

“Yea, at least now that it’s over we can focus more on the project since we don’t seem to have gotten that much work done,” Matthew said.

Chike rolled his eyes, “Alright then.”

“Okay, so, we still need to decide on a theme. How about we do… jazz?” Matthew explained.

“Ew, no.”

“Ok then… what about punk rock?”

“What am I? Emo?”

“Well, you kinda are.”

“What was that!” Chike exclaimed.

“Nothing!” Matthew said quickly. “Well, if you don’t wanna do what I suggest why don’t you pick something?”

“Ugh, fine then. But, I have no ideas.”

“Well, what type of music do you like?”

“I like dark and mysterious music,” Chike said bluntly.

“So, classical music? Maybe?”

“Whatever. As long as it sounds ‘dark’”

“Alright! I like that type of music as well,” Matthew said, “Now for the instruments. Let’s go over to the instrument area and pick some out.”

They walked over to where the instruments were. Matthew wandered off to where the larger instruments were while Chike simply browsed around. He walked slowly with his hands clasped behind his back passing by many different instruments. He didn’t feel any particular connection to any of them and thus kept walking. However, when he came across the flute he stopped in his tracks. He stared at the instrument as if it would come to life. Chike reached out and picked it up. The instant it touched his hand, he felt a connection to it. It was a strange feeling.

He brought it up to his lips and began to play. The melody that was produced was jaw-dropping.The class stopped what they were doing to listen to him. It was sorrowful and heartbreaking but also something more. Chike played this as if he had known to play it all his life. He looked ethereal.

Soon the pseudo performance came to an end and the whole room was dead silent. Chike stared at the instrument in his hand questionably but shook the thought away.

All of a sudden he heard a clap. His head shot up towards the sound to see Matthew starting to clap. Soon enough the whole class was giving him a round of applause even Daniella who was surprised at the performance.

The clapping died down and everyone went back to work.

Matthew ran over to Chike and said, “Wow! That was amazing! I didn’t know you knew how to play the flute. Why didn’t you say something?”

Chike blinked and looked back down to the flute in his hand. He said, “I didn’t know I could play it until now.”

“Well, you’re a natural! You definitely need to use it for our project. I was also thinking that I could play the cello since it goes along with the flute and I already know how to play it,” Matthew explained.

Chike looked up and nodded in agreement.

They walked back to their seats getting back to work on their project.


	16. 3rd Period Conundrums

The bell rang and Daniella had to part ways with Christina and Ugo since they had gym while she had History for 3rd period.

She got to her classroom and sat down in her desk in a group with Janna and two other people.

“Hi, Janna,” Daniella greeted.

Janna nodded in response.

As the type of student Janna is, she was so exceptional in her History studies that she had skipped two grades in the subject. So, this had made her have the same class as Daniella.

And since, Daniella had the same classes as Chike. This meant that she had to share a class with her brother which she wasn’t very fond of. She had complained for one day but afterwards didn’t really care.

When Chike found out that he was sharing a class with his sister he wasn’t surprised. He said and I quote, “I’m not surprised that my little sister is in a higher grade class especially for a subject like History.”

Speaking of Chike, a couple of minutes after Daniella had sat down, he had entered the classroom along with Matthew. He sat down in his desk in a group with Matthew and two other people. When he looked across the room, he saw Daniella trying to make conversation with Janna.

When he first saw Daniella talking to Janna like she knew her, he was quite confused. He learned that Janna was supposed to be Daniella’s guide for her first day. But, even though they knew each other, he still found it odd that his little sister would associate herself with someone like Cupid. Not that Janna knew Daniella is Cupid.

Anyways, right now in History they were learning about mythology, more specifically mythological gods. They learned about Hephaestus, Loki, Jokul Frosti, and Anubis. It was quite interesting and even though Daniella knew a lot about history even she learned some new things.

Today the teacher was going to introduce a new god to them.

“Okay class, today we’ll be learning about Eros or Cupid as you know them. The God of Love,” the teacher said.

‘Oop, this will certainly be an interesting lesson,’ Daniella thought, having mixed emotions about the matter.

‘Ugh is everything about Cupid?’ Chike thought annoyed.

‘Welp, this’ll be a breeze but I better not reveal too much,’ Janna thought.

“Now class, open up your textbooks to page 389. There, you’ll find a picture of Cupid,” the teacher instructed.

Everyone flipped to the page and found the image.

‘Ha! That doesn’t look anything like me. This must be before I had be born,’ Daniella thought.

The teacher then went on with the lesson, explaining the God’s origin and some stories surrounding them. The teacher went through a power point and some paragraphs in the textbooks, explaining in great detail.

The entire time, Daniella was confused as to why so many of the facts were inaccurate. She sighed. It was expected since much of the information surrounding the gods gets twisted and lost through time so what could she do.

Chike, on the other hand, simply rolled his eyes and thought, ‘That uneducated mortal has no idea what they're saying.’

Suddenly, a random kid shouted, “Hey! What if there was an Anti-Cupid?”

As soon as the kid said it, Daniella, Janna and Chike’s eyes widened. They knew this would end badly.

* * *

At the same time, with Christina and Ugo, their gym teacher was explaining what they were going to do that class.

“Alright class! Today we’re going to have a mini badminton tournament to loosen up a bit from the all the hard work you’ve been doing. You can pick your partners and come put your name at the bottom of the score chart,” the teacher explained.

“YES!” Christina exclaimed happily since she loved badminton.

“Oh thank god,” Ugo said relieved, tired from all the intense classes they’ve been having.

Automatically knowing they were partners, Christina and Ugo got their rackets and birdie. They walked to a net.

“OH yea. Come on Ugo, let’s beat these newbies,” Christina said confidently.

“Okay, whatever you say,” Ugo replied.

As soon as the teacher blowed the whistle the tournament begun.

Christina and Ugo breezed by each game, winning each of their sets fiercely with much aggression. They soon made it to the finals.

“Come on! Let’s see who we have to pulverize next to win this whole thang,” Christina exclaimed.

“That would be us,” a voice said behind the pair.

Ugo and Christina looked behind them to see Alfred and Krystian.

Krystian smiled and said, “Ready to compete for the win?”

Christina smirked and yelled, “Oh hell ya! Let’s do this!”

Both Ugo and Alfred thought, ‘Well, this couldn’t get more awkward.”

* * *

It was the middle of the game. The two teams were tied 15-15 and things were getting intense. There was so much tension in the air you could cut it with a knife.

It was the guys’ turn to serve. Alfred took the birdie and swung his racket.

When he hit it the girls realized that he had done a soft serve. Since Ugo had to hit it back she quickly ran up to the net to hit it back. Which she did. But, she miscalculated her jump and crashed into the net. The force of her jump was too much and ended up undoing the poorly done knots. She landed on the floor hard bringing the nest with her.

Everyone was shocked to say the least.

“UGO!” Christina exclaimed worriedly. She immediately ran over to Ugo to check on her. “Are you ok?! Are you hurt?! Do you need to go to the hospital?!” She said rapidly helping her up.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry,” Ugo said reassuringly. She proceed to take a step but immediately stumbled.

“Ow, ow, ow…” Ugo said feeling pain blossom on her left knee.

The teacher said, “You’re not alright young miss. Go to the nurses office and get that leg looked over. And you!,” the teacher said pointing to Alfred, “Go with her to the nurse’s office.”

Pointing to Christina and Krystian the teacher said, “In the meantime, you two will continue the tournament to determine a winner.”

* * *

Meanwhile with Daniella, after that kid had made that hypothesis about an Anti-Cupid, many students agreed with him. Others said that it was ridiculous and that they preferred Cupid much more than an Anti-Cupid. This sparked a debate on about which God was better.

“C’mon guys, Cupid is clearly the best,” random kid #1 started to say, “He’s the reason why we all love. So, without him what would the world even be?”

“But is he really the reason?” Random kid #2 said, “I doubt the world wouldn’t have anymore love without Cupid. Doesn’t he just enforce it?”

“No!” random kid #1 opposed, “Cupid’s the one who makes people fall in love. It’s common knowledge! Haven’t you ever heard of soulmates?”

“Okay. One, soulmates don’t exist and two, Cupid isn’t even real so, there’s no argument,” a third kid said.

“But if Cupid was real, he would have feelings. Unlike Anti-Cupid who would probably be emotionless right?” a fourth kid argued.

“Who cares? Anti-Cupid would be _way_ cooler. He’d be much more interesting than all the lovely-doveyness that Cupid displays. Love is kinda nasty to be honest,” random kid #5 voiced.

Kid #1 shouted, “You take that back!”

“Yeah,” kid #6 said, “The only reason you’re in favour of Anti-Cupid is that you’re still salty after not getting a date for last year’s spring formal.”

“Ooooo,” the whole class said.

“Okay that was hurtful,” kid #5 said, “But, I’m still standing by with what I said earlier. I just think that Anti-Cupid would be much more powerful than Cupid.”

“Are you serious?! Cupid would obvious be more powerful. Love always prevails!” kid #1.

“How many times do I have to say this?! They! Do not! Exist!” Kid #3 exclaimed.

“We’re not saying that they exist! We’re learning about mythology right now! This is just our imagination! Let us have our fun!” Kid #4 said.

The third kid rolled their eyes, “Ridiculous!”

“I know you are but what am I?” Kid #4 retaliated.

Janna rolled her eyes, ‘Seriously? They consider that a comeback? What are we? Five? This is just way to juvenile even for a class of grade 11s. I’ve had about enough of this. I better put an end to this unnecessary dispute since no one is gonna step up.’ She dragged a chair to the middle of the war zone and stood on it since she was short.

Janna whistled really hard, immediately gaining everyone’s attention.

“Everyone listen up! This argument has gone on for way too long. It doesn’t matter who’s better or stronger between Cupid and Dar- Anti-Cupid. Your dispute is making some of us very uncomfortable.Our teacher’s over there crying in the corner for goodness’ sake. This is a classroom! It’s time we start acting like we’re inside of one. Have I made myself clear?”

Everyone slowly nodded still shocked from the speech Janna delivered.

“Good,” she nodded back and got off the chair.

When she got back to her seat, Daniella applauded her. She said, “Way to take charge, Janna!”

Janna shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Eh, it’s nothing!”

“Seriously Janna, that’s come student council president skills right there. Do they even have that at this school?”

“They do have it at this school but I don’t plan on running or anything.”

“Well, I think you should.” Daniella gave her a thumbs up.

“We’ll see."

* * *

Meanwhile back in gym class, Christina and Krystian were continuing the final match as the teacher had said to do. They had been going at it for a while with the both of them rallying the birdie back and forth. Soon enough though, they were at a tie. Krystian served the birdie to Christina when she immediately jumped to spike it back to his side. Unlike Ugo, she controlled her jump and landed back safely on her side.

Now with her having 20 points and Krystian having 19, she only need one more point to win this whole tournament. She grabbed the birdie, took a deep breath and threw it up to serve. They rallied it back and forth for a bit before Krystian hit the birdie with a soft swing. Christina swiftly ran forwards to hit it with a powerful swing that sent it back to his side.

Krystian raised his racket to do an over-hand hit back but he missed the birdie and it hit the ground just inbounds. The teacher blowed the whistle, ending the game 21-19.

With a grin on her face, she fist-pumped the air saying, “Yes!!”

Krystian swooped under the badminton net walking towards her. He stuck out his hand like he was going to handshake someone and said, “Good game.”

Still with a bright smile on her face, Christina shook his hand.

Krystian blushed, not used to seeing this side of Christina before. Clearing his throat he begins to say, “So, for the music project, since like, we already have our theme and instruments would you like to, uh come over to my house to work on the lyrics and stuff?”

Surprised, her eyes widened, “Yea sure. It’s better to be ahead anyways.”

“Great! I’ll come by your locker after last period and we can walk there together.”

“Kay!”

Just then the bell rang. They parted ways, both of them excited for when the day ends.


	17. Moments to be Remembered

Daniella was at her locker putting away her things and getting the items she needed for her class after the break. Once she finished organizing herself, she looked around the hall for Ugo and Christina. Having not found them, she assumed they were still in gym class so she decided to wait for them in the hangout zone of their school.

The zone was at the centre of the school. It was a glass roofed space surrounded by lockers. It had a giant tree in the middle of it and smaller plants at the edges. The ceiling was completely made of grass save for the couple of pathways it had.

As Daniella entered the zone, she glanced around looking for a spot to sit. After a couple of seconds of deliberation, she sat down under the huge tree in the middle of it. Seizing the opportunity she had, she placed one ear bud in her ear and started to talk to Vianne. If anyone looked, it would just seems as if she were talking to someone on her phone with her earbuds in.

“Hey Vianne,” Daniella said.

“Hey Boss,” Vianne started, “How’s it going on earth?”

“Pretty good actually. I’ve been keeping a good eye on the ships (that’s what Cupid and Vianne refer to the potential couples) and I think things are going smoothly as of now.”

“That’s good! So, pfft, how was History class,” Vianne said smugly but trying to hold back her laughter at the same time.

“Cut the act Vianne. I know you were watching everything the entire time. But I got to admit, it was… interesting, I guess?”

“Haha, you mean hilarious. Your faces when they mentioned anti-cupid, lmao.”

“Well, it was a bit of a surprise. I mean, it’s not everyday that someone makes a theory about ur life that is almost true. But oh my gosh, did u see Chike’s face when that student mentioned Anti-Cupid?” Daniella laughed, “His face was like ‘What?’”

Vianne was dying of laughter, “Yea, that’s my new favourite class.”

“Haha, sure. But mine is definitely Chemistry.”

Daniella and Vianne kept talking for a couple more minutes about other things. Then, Daniella saw Christina and Ugo walking towards her.

“Oh! Welp, I gotta go Vianne. I just spotted my friends. Talk to you later!” Daniella said.

“Yup,” Vianne replied.

Daniella took out the earbud sneakily turning off the comm in the process. She gathered her things and stood up, walking towards the pair.

When she reached them, she said, “Hey guys! How was gym?” Daniella then noticed that Ugo was holding a ziplock bag full of ice. “What’s with the ice?” She said with concern knowing what ice paired with gym class can mean.

“Oh well, I sorta fell on my knee while playing badminton. But, I’m fine,” Ugo reassured.

“Ugo. Your knee is purple! Are you sure you’re alright?” Daniella said pointing Ugo’s knee.

“Oh yea that’s normal. Bruises tend to range from bluish to purplish. Plus, with the stunt she pulled in the match I’m surprised she didn’t end up with anything worse,” Christina explained.

“Oh ok. Wait. Stunt? What stunt? What happened?” Daniella said, her voice laced with concern.

Both Christina and Ugo filled Daniella in on what had happened during gym class.

“Who knew you could jump that high?” Daniella questioned rhetorically.

“Yea, I put to much force into my jump,” Ugo sighed.

“Luckily, the teacher sent her to the nurse’s office, with someone, to get treated. I would’ve gone with her myself but, the teacher had already told someone to do it,” Christina explained.

“Oh? Who’d you go with?” Daniella asked.

“Oh you know… just Alfred,” Ugo said nervously.

Daniella looked at her blankly then face shifted into a shit eating grin. “Ha! You? Got accompanied to the nurses office, by you-know-who? Ha! That’s gold!”

“I knew you’d react like this,” Ugo said exasperated.

“What happened?” Daniella asked with a big knowing grin.

“Yea! You never told me what happened either,” Christina added having the same grin on her face.

“Well…” Ugo started.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_The nurse had just finished looking over Ugo’s injury. “Well, it’s nothing too bad. just a normal bruise. It’ll heal in a day or two. In the meantime, I’ll get you some ice for the pain. I’ll be right back,” the nurse said swiftly going into another room._

_Once the nurse left, awkward silence took hold between the pair._

_Ugo thought to herself, ‘Great. I’m sitting alone in the nurses office beside Alfred. Can’t I ever escape awkward situations?’_

_At the same time, Alfred thought, ‘Out of people, the teacher just had to ask me to take Ugo to the nurse’s office. Like the teacher could have asked her friend, which would’ve been the obvious choice, or even Krystian!But, noooo. It had to be me. This is the second time that we’ve sat next to each other without saying so much as a word. But, no matter how awkward this is, I have to be the one to break the silence. I am the ‘cool one’ after all._

_“So,” Alfred started, “Does your knee still hurt?” He internally facepalmed, ‘Smooth, Alfred. Real smooth’_

_“Hm, yea. A little,” Ugo replied, surprised that Alfred even said anything._

_Alfred nodded. “You should be more careful next time. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”_

_Ugo’s eyes widened. ‘Wow. He actually has a caring side.’ Clearing her throat she said, “Yea I know. I just put too much power into my jump. But, I’ve learned my lesson. I hopefully won’t do that again.”_

_Alfred smiled genuinely, “Good.”_

_Realizing what had transpired, they both felt a bit embarrassed thus looked away at the same time._

_Alfred started to panic a little. He thought, ‘Ugh! Why did I do that? She gonna think I’m weird for having smiled at her that way. So much for being ‘cool’ Alfred.’_

_Ugo was also panicking. ‘The way he looked at me… UGH! I was gonna smile back but, the moment felt so embarrassing that I looked away!’_

_Just then, the nurse walked in with a ziplock bag full of ice. “Here you are. Make sure to it for at least 5 minutes twice a day. Then you’ll be good to go,” the nurse said handing the bag to Ugo._

_“Thank you!” Ugo said and the nurse left the room._

_Alfred stood up first and turned to look at Ugo. She went to stand up as well but as soon as she did a burst of pain shot up her. She started to fall and closed her eyes awaiting impact. However, it never came. She was pressed against something sturdy, yet surprisingly soft. She opened her eyes to find herself faced with a chest._

_“Are you ok?” A voice said above her._

_She looked up and came face to face with Alfred. Thanks to his cat like reflexes, he had caught Ugo, wrapping his arms around her and holding her weight to his chest._

_After a few seconds of looking at each other, Ugo blushed furiously, realizing what position they were in. She pushed off of his chest and regained her balance. “Yea, just lost my footing for a second. Thanks,” Ugo said brushing her hair behind her ear._

_“No problem.Come on, let’s get back to class,”Alfred said walking out the door._

_“Yea…” Ugo said following suit._

* * *

_Flashback End_

* * *

Of course Ugo hadn’t told the complete story. She didn’t want to have to deal with her friends’ teasing so she left out the most obvious things that happened.

“That’s it?” Christina said, “No embarrassing moments? Nothing?”

“Well, just the awkward silence but, yup that’s it,” Ugo replied

“Hm ok” Christina said.

“Yikes, awkwardness is never fun. But, oh well, what ever happened, happened. At least your knee will be alright,” Daniella said. Although, she didn’t think that Ugo was telling the whole story. Cupid could tell whenever someone was hiding something related to romantic feelings and right now she was getting alarms radiating from Ugo. But, for the sake o their friendship she would leave it alone for now (although, she would definitely be checking the biographies for anything juicy that happened).

Just then, the bell rang.

“Welp, that’s the bell. Better get to class. Come on Daniella. Let’s go,” Christina said.

The trio bid their farewell and parted ways onto their final class of the day.

* * *

The math teacher had just finished the lesson for that day and had assigned the homework that goes with it. It was to be completed in class but any unfinished work was to be completed at home for the next day.

Daniella was sitting in her desk diligently doing her homework. For the most part, she was doing fine, answering all the questions, until she came across one particular question. She read it and was confused. Daniella read it over and over again, trying to dissect the question piece by piece but she couldn’t understand what it meant.

She looked over to Christina, who was sitting beside her, to ask for help when she noticed that Christina had already finished the homework as she was doing work from another class.

“What?! How the heck did you finish three pages of work in the span of only 15 minutes?!” Daniella asked, shocked, “You’re some sort of robot, aren’t you?”

“I’m not, it was just easy,” Christina said nonchalantly.

“For YOU maybe. But anyways, could you please help me with this question?” Daniella begged.

“Yea, sure. What’re you having trouble with?” Christina questioned scooting over to look at Daniella’s page.

After Christina had helped Daniella with the question she was stuck on, Daniella managed to finish her work 15 minutes before the bell. Since she didn’t have anything else to do, she glanced around the room, looking at what the other students were doing.

She saw Dark Cupid at the back corner of the class, lounging around doing nothing. He didn’t care at all about this stupid mortal work so he was just chilling waiting for school to end and his detention to start.

Daniella also noticed that Elvin and Anej, one of the previous identified soul-couples, were in this class too. Anej was sitting behind Elvin, with him turned around talking to her. Daniella realized that she would need to monitor them more frequently since she hasn’t been checking up on their relationship lately.

Sometime passed and the bell finally rang. Daniella and Christina packed up their things and made their way to their lockers.

Christina’s locker was closer to the class so Daniella waited for her to get the items she needed before they walked over to Daniella’s locker. Once they were at Daniella’s locker they met up with Ugo who was almost finished getting the things she needed from her locker.

“Hey, Christina! Over here!” a familiar voice said.

Christina turned around to see Krystian eagerly waving over to her. She waved back signally that she would go over there.

She turned back to Daniella and Ugo saying, “Well, I gotta go guys. See you tomorrow!”

Daniella smiled genuinely, saying, “Have fun!”

Christina nodded and walked over to where Krystian stood. As she did, Daniella’s smile morphed more into a knowing grin. She turned to look at Ugo.

Still looking at the pair, Ugo said, “I don’t working is the only thing that’ll be happening there.”

Daniella burst into giggles at the statement. Something told her that perhaps Ugo was right.


	18. "I thought you'd never ask."

Krystian and Christina were working diligently on their music project. As soon as they had arrived at Krystian’s house, they went to straight to his room. They spent the last couple hours creating music notes and making sure that it still followed the theme they had chosen. It was very tedious making sure that everything sounded right but they had managed to finish up until the bridge.

Christina turned away from her notes, to look at Krystian and started to say, “So for the bridge I was thinking tha-”

A loud knocked interrupted her from finishing her sentence. Krystian told them to come in and the pair turned to see who had knocked on the door. A head peaked through the somewhat open door. It was Krystian’s mom.

“Sorry to disturb sweetie, do and your friend want anything? You’ve both been working very hard and I think you kids need a break,” Krystian’s mom said.

Krystian turned to look at Christina for her response. “Oh! Sure, I don’t mind. I guess we could use a break,” Christina said smiling.

“Oh wonderful!,” Krystian’s mom replied, “Now, I’ll just be a second. Don’t go anywhere.”

Krystian’s mom left and closed the room door. After about a couple of minutes of finishing up some final notes while waiting, Krystian’s mom finally returned to his room with a platter full of snacks.

She set it down on the bed and said, “Enjoy! I’ll just be downstairs if you need anything.” Finally, she left the room.

* * *

They had already eaten half of the snacks that they were given and talked about random things. Krystian was telling Christina about some random thing that he did as a child, finding it hilarious.

“You really did that?! Seriously? I thought it would be common sense not to do that,” Christina said trying to hold in her laughter but failing.

Krystian rolled his eyes playfully, “Look, I was a kid. I didn’t know better. Plus I was all alone, what’d you expect me to do?”

“True, true.”

Christina swiped another snack from the plate and took a bite. Swallowing she said, “You know? It was really nice of your mom to make us snacks. What are these called again?”

“They’re krokiets, traditional polish snacks. And yea, I know. My parents are very generous,” Krystian explained.

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, they always take us on family vacations whenever we have breaks, buy us takeout whenever my siblings ask and they always get me things that I never asked for. Like here,” Krystian stood up from his bed and walked over to a bookcase that had many figurines and merchandise. He grabbed something and walked back over to the bed. “It’s a figurine of the soccer player Cristian Ronald, limited edition. Like who knows how much this costs. I always feel kinda bad when they get me stuff.”

“Well, I think that it’s really sweet. I mean they’re getting this stuff for you cause they know you like it and they want to make you happy,” Christina said genuinely.

“Yea, I guess so.”

“Mind if I take a look at some of your other merch?”

“Oh, yea, sure. Go ahead.”

Christina got up and walked over to the bookcase with Krystian following suit. She glanced at all the figurines, admiring the craftsmanship and time put into creating them.She came across a white snapback with a black, embroidered number and a signature on the side. Curious, she turned to Krystian and asked about it.

“Oh! This? My parents bought me this cap just before I went to my first ever floor seated game. It was during the intermission when I yelled ‘CRISTIAN I’M YOUR BIGGEST FAN. YOU’RE MY IDOL!’,” Krystian mock yelled, making Christina laugh a bit. “He came over, took my cap, signed it and handed it back to me saying ‘I’m YOUR biggest fan’. I was too shocked to say anything back and he had to back anyways to finish the game. None the less, it was one of the most memorable days of my life.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! You got to meet your idol and have him sign something for you. You’re so lucky,” Christina said in envious awe. Krystian nodded.

Suddenly, Christina smiled deviously. She swiftly grabbed the snapback putting it on and smirked at Krystian.

“Hey! Give it back!,” Krystian said playful making a grab for the cap.

But, Christina stepped back just enough so that he couldn’t reach it. She snorted. “If you want it so bad, come and get it!” Christina said challengingly having stuck her tongue out at him.

“Oh hohoho, You’re on!” Krystian said accepting the challenge.

He darted after Christina, trying to get the jump on her but she was quicker. Thanks to her cat like reflexes, Christina quickly side-stepped out of Krystian’s way making him stumble a bit as to not fall down face first into the floor.

Regaining his bearings, Krystian looked at Christina, who was a good distance away, with a playful glare.

“I thought you were supposed to be an athlete but here you are stumbling,” Christina said teasingly.

“Okay, that’s it!” Krystian shouted with a smirking grin.

They both took off in a cat and mouse chase. Krystian came close to catching Christina many times but she always managed to throw him off his feet and evade him. Krystian wondered if she was allowing for him get closer only for her to lose him in the end. He’d have to ask after the chase was over.

They kept chasing each other for a good while until Christina went around a table successfully blocking Krystian from getting to her.

This allowed them to catch their breath and throw playful, teasing insults at each other. After a good while of regaining their breath, Christina thought she should make a run for it.

She scanned the area, planning which way she was going and made sure to time it right. When the opportunity came, she dashed off away from Krystian.

However, when she was almost out of his reach, Krystian managed to grab one of Christina’s arms firmly, preventing her from running off. He pulled her close into his chest, face to face, holding her securely in his arms.

Christina struggled trying to get out of his grip but it was of no use. Krystian’s hold on her was too strong for her to override. However, that didn’t stop her from continuing to struggle.

Her struggling cause the both of them to stumble and walk, for Krystian was trying to maintain that secure hold. Eventually, without realizing it, they had stumbled all the over to the bed.

Suddenly, Christina tripped onto the bed, causing the snapback to come off of her head. And because of Krystian having such a strong hold on her, he fell forward onto the bed with him on top of her.

After the initial impact, they looked at each other a bit shocked. After a couple of minutes of silence, they both broke out into grins and laughed uncontrollably. Eventually the laughter died down and their grins faded. Krystian and Christina stared at each other having felt… something.

They felt a force drawing them in closer. Krystian leaned down as the same time Christina tilted her head up, the pair slowly closing their eyes. Their faces kept drawing in closer and closer until finally their lips met.

Immediately, they both felt as if fireworks had gone off. It was a sensation that they had never felt before. They kept their lips locked for a few more seconds, savouring the feeling before slowly breaking apart.

Their eyes opened to stare at each other. Realizing what they had done, their eyes grew wide in shock and they blushed in embarrassment.

Krystian immediately sat up off of Christina on the bed and Christina followed suite.

“Ah! I- um. Sorry. I- uh didn’t mean, um-” Krystian stuttered embarrassed.

The corner of Christina’s lips turned down. “So… you didn’t mean to kiss me,” Christina replied sadly.

Krystian’s eye widened. “W-what!? No! Of course I mean that kiss! I’ve liked you ever since I met you back in grade 6. So why wouldn’t I-” Realizing what he was saying, Krystian quickly slapped his hand over his mouth and stared at Christina.

“Yo-you like me? You’ve liked me for that long? Really?!” Christina asked hopeful.

Krystian boded his head.

Christina burst out into a huge smile, “I’d have never thought that you’d actually like me back! I-”

“Wait!” Krystian stopped her from continuing, “You like me too?”

Christina nodded, “Uhuh, ever since we began highschool! My friends told me I was being totally obvious.”

“Well, not to me. Or maybe I’m just oblivious.”

Christina giggled and a few seconds of silence passed.

“So… where does this leave us?” Christina questioned.

“Well,” Krystian cleared his throat, “Christina, will you be my girlfriend?”

Christina’s face morphed into a huge grin. “I thought you’d never ask.”


	19. He's My Friend!

Daniella’s head jerked up from what she was reading, having gotten a feeling that one of the soulmate pairs had gotten together. She smiled and put down the biography she was looking at. Daniella walked over to get the other profile. Skimming through the few ones she was watching over, she noticed that one of the pair’s became canon or got together, so to say.

Vianne noticed the somewhat unusual behaviour coming from Daniella. “What is it boss?” Judging from Daniella’s expression, Vianne knew it was a good thing.

Daniella went on, proceeding to explain what had happened and how one of the soulmate pairs she was looking over had finally got together. Although, it was expected since they were both already pining over each other and Daniella’s plan of having them be partners for the music project was also a key factor in them getting together.

“Heyyyy, looks like your plan worked,” Vianne said congratulatingly, “But now that they’re together you need to start focusing more on the other ones you’ve found.”

“Yup! Like Ugo and Alfred. Those two sure are toughies but luckily I have my sun ray manipulation powers to help me out during one of those tough situations.”

* * *

The next day at school Daniella was with Ugo at their lockers. They’d already gotten the materials they needed and were waiting for Christina since she usually met up with them at their lockers. After a few minutes of waiting, they both decided to go to Christina’s locker to see if she was there. Once Daniella and Ugo got there, they were met with a somewhat surprising sight.

Christina was there alright but, so was Krystian and it looked like they were… flirting?! Christina had her back turned to her locker while Krystian stood in front of her with one hand beside her head. They were talking, smiling and laughing and Christina didn’t look she was about to have an aneurysm. The sight shocked Ugo and Daniella to say the least.

Then Krystian took out his phone, seeming to read something. He said something to Christina and she shook her head, smiling. He smiled in return and kissed her briefly on the lips.

Now this action made Ugo and Daniella’s jaws drop. Krystian walked away and Christina turned her head to see the pair. She jogged over and her smile on her face turned to confusion when she closely saw their faces.

“Uh? You guys alright?” Christina said concerned.

Shaking out of their shocked expressions, they started to squeal.

“So I’m guessing the study session at Krystian’s went well?” Ugo said smugly.

Christina blushed furiously. “Shut up,” she said smiling.

“So you guys a couple now? Not that it isn’t obvious but…” Daniella asked.

“Finally, yea.”

Daniella and Ugo beamed with joy for their friend. They started bombarding Christina with question after question. Christina, with her kind soul, answered everything to the best of her abilities.

“Well, we were working diligently on our project for a while. Then Krystian’s mom suggested we take a break and offered us snacks. I stole his baseball cap and next thing we knew, we were dating,” Christina explained after Ugo asked how they got together.

“That… is a beautiful summary,” Daniella said. Ugo nodded her head in agreement.

“Well, you know, I didn’t want to bore you guys with the details,” Christina shrugged.

“That’s not boring!” They yelled at the same time.

Christina was startled a bit but, soon began to laugh and was joined by the other two.

* * *

“Yo, what the heck is this gooey stuff,” Elvin said picking up a cup of something that was on his tray.

“Ew! I don’t know. Maybe you should put that down. You don’t know where it’s been,” Anej said disgusted.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure I just grabbed it from the cafeteria line.” Elvin smelled the content of the cup and recoiled in disgust. “Oh God, it smells weird.”

“Ok yea. I don’t know what made you think that was a good idea to buy but I won’t judge.”

“Hey Chike! Do you want this?” Elvin said pushing it towards the person in question.

“Ugh, how revolting! Keep that unpleasant substance away from me!” Chike exclaimed leaning away from the dreaded cup.

It was lunchtime at school right now and Chike was once again sitting with Matthew and his friend group. He wasn’t very amused with these mortals’ antics especially Elvin’s. He made Matthew seem even less annoying.

Ever since his second day at that school Chike’s always been sitting with Matthew and his friends at lunch. At first, they annoyed the hell out of Chike because, well, he didn’t like people very much. But later it became tolerable to the bare minimum. He got used to them. Although they didn’t talk to him very much, in retrospect that was good for Chike.

Most of them didn’t annoy Chike that much, at least not on purpose. However, in instances like these, he found Elvin to be almost unbearably irritating.

Elvin continued to blab on, as he normally did, with most of his comments being directed towards, the already aggravated, Chike. As he proceeded to blab, Chike grew more and more annoyed by the second until he finally burst.

“Matthew! Tell your unbelievably loud-mouthed friend to shut his mouth before I go over there and shut! It! For! Him!” Chike yelled commandingly to Matthew through gritted teeth.

“Yes, my- uh yea ok,” Matthew responded a bit flustered.

The whole table turned to look at Chike after his small outburst. Looks of shock adorned most of the faces there. Elvin, however, was as pale as a ghost. Gulping nervously, he quickly nodded his head.

“S-sorry man,” Elvin stuttered.

Chike sighed. “Whatever. It’s time to go to class. Come on Matthew.”

As the pair left the table Anej turned to Elvin saying, “Don’t take it personally Chike tends to have outbursts on the daily. You’ll see, in a few weeks maybe he’ll be different?”

* * *

During their break, Daniella and Ugo were at their lockers getting the things they needed for their last classes. Christina, already having gotten the things from her locker, walked up to them.

“So, how’s your day been so far?” Christina asked. She leaned her side onto the closed locker beside their’s.

“Fine. Except for the fact that I’m overflowing with homework. I’ll probably get more in English,” Ugo replied.

“Yea me too,” Daniella voiced.

“This year’s really tough. I’ve got homework from every single one of my classes so far and I’ll probably be sleep deprived by the end of the week,” Christina groaned, “I’ll guess I’ll have to post-pone my date with Krystian till next week, given that he’ll have as much homework as I do.”

“That’s sucks but yea I get that. I swear, the teachers just think us students don’t have life outside of school. Like, hello, yes I do have a life maybe you should get one for yourself. By the end of this week, I’m just gonna sleep for two days straight,” Ugo joked semi-seriously.

Daniella didn’t exactly enjoy seeing her friends think so negatively so, she tried to lift up their spirits with some encouragement.

“Oh come on guys. It’ll be okay! Getting more homework just make us more studious and responsible people in the long term, right? I’m sure despite the many books and books and books… and books, we- Oh who am I kidding?! How do you people have the time to do this much work?!” Daniella complained.

Christina and Ugo shrugged in unison.

“We just deal with it,” Ugo said. Christina nodded in agreement.

Daniella groaned. It is going to be a long year for her.

* * *

The rest of the school day passed without any problems. Most of the students had already gone their separate ways once the final bell had rung. Chike, however, still had detention for the next couple of weeks. He sat in the designated classroom waiting for the supervisor who would monitor him for the duration of his detention (although once the teacher left he would go to his secret hideout).

Chike was just messing around with his shadows, twirling his hand and seeing all the shapes he could make with them when he heard foot steps approaching. Swiftly, he dissipated the shadows and sat laid back in the chair.

The footsteps seemed to be getting closer and closer to the classroom. Chike just assumed it was the old teacher that was approaching the classroom but it wasn’t.

To his surprise, Matthew had just entered the classroom. Matthew turned towards Chike, an instant grin plastered onto his face. He walked over and sat down in the desk next to the one Chike was sitting in.

Chike, getting over his moment of surprise, asked Matthew, “What’s a goody-two-shoes like you doing in detention?”

Matthew shrugged. “I got into a fight,” he said nonchalantly.

As soon as Matthew had said that, Chike just noticed the plasters on Matthew’s right cheek and eyebrow, and the bandages wrapped around his hands. A million thoughts ran through his mind but he only said one word, “Why?”

Matthew’s eyes widened and his face broke out into a sheepish grin. He rubbed the back of his head and looked away saying, “Well…”

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_It was the middle of fourth period and Matthew had just exited the washroom. He was walking back to class when overheard someone in the halls talking. He peaked around the corner and saw 2 boys, a brunet and a ravenet, chatting near some lockers. Matthew assumed that since they didn’t seem to be in a rush, it was their free period._

_“No way dude! She really did that?” the ravenet said._

_“Yea man. If it weren’t that new weird transfer student I would’ve been able to ask her,” the brunet sighed, “What was his name anyways? Chicken? Bak-bak, bak-bak.”_

_The pair laughed at their ‘joke’. The ravenet continued, “Like seriously. What’s his deal? You’d think being a transfer student he’d want to make friends at a new school.”_

_“I know right?! He think he’s sooo intimidating with his poker face and cold demeanour. Like dude you’re never gonna get friends that way.”_

_“Right?! Like he scares away everyone. I couldn’t even talk to my crush because he just walked by and she ran away super scared. How do those people he sits with at lunch even tolerate him?”_

_“I just think they pity him like, seriously, just look at him. No one would even consider wanting to be his friend. He’s just too strange, too cold. He might as well be worse than the Snow Queen and SHE was cold cold.”_

_They laughed at their ‘ridiculousness’._

_As this interaction progressed, Matthew stood right around the corner, his anger rising every time the pair made a ‘joke’ about Chike. He clenched his fist tightly. Matthew knew that anger and violence never did anything good so he took a deep breath in. Cooling himself down from his wave of anger took a few minutes. Although there was still some bubbling anger below the surface, Matthew had levelled himself just enough to be able to return to class._

_As he was about to leave, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks._

_“You know what would be super hilarious?” the brunet asked his friend, “If we showed just how cold that weirdo actually is.”_

_“Oohhh. What if we dumped a bucket of ice water on him” the ravenet suggested._

_“That’s perfect! And we’ll do it in the caf. so that everyone can see. I guarantee that he’ll be so humiliated that his mask will crack and everyone will see that he isn’t as intimidating as he portrays himself to be.”_

_“He’ll be the laughing stock of the school. Can’t scare away anyone is they’re all laughing at you now can you?” the ravenet said while the pair laughed._

_By now, Matthew had heard enough. Threatening to ridicule Chike in front of the whole school had been the last straw for him. He stormed around the corner making a bee-line towards the pair, anger swarming his face._

_“Hey!” Matthew shouted at them._

_“Hey?” The pair said back confused about who was talking to them._

_“I wouldn’t mess with Chike if I were you,” Matthew said intimidatingly._

_“Oh yeah? What’s it to you?” the ravenet said._

_“Oh, I get it,” the brunet nudged his companion, “He’s one of those people that pities poor. Old. Chike.”_

_“I don’t hangout with him out of pity! He’s my friend! And I don’t like the sound of your plan one bit!” Matthew exclaimed narrowing his eyes._

_“Whatcha gonna do about it? Huh?” the brunet said striding up to Matthew and attempting to shove him._

_Matthew saw what was about to happen and swiftly dodged to one side while simultaneously tripping the brunet, making him fall to the ground._

_Angered, the ravenet said, “Oh that’s it!” He punched Matthew right on his cheek making him stumble back a few steps. Matthew retaliated as soon as he regained his footing. However, the brunet had gotten back on his feet and quickly made advanced behind Matthew hoping to get the jump on him. Grabbing him in a bearhug, Matthew quickly broke free and continued to defend himself from the on coming attacks._

_Now their fight wasn’t a quiet one and soon brought many spectators from different classes who wanted to see what all the commotion was about. Some were yelling at them to stop, some were chanting ‘fight, fight’ over and over again. Most of the responsible ones were yelling at others to go find a teacher to break up this fight._

_Soon their prayers were answered. “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” A random teacher yelled. The teacher came in between the pair and Matthew effectively separating them so that the fighting would stop. Now split, they caught their breath._

_“You three! To the principal’s office NOW! As for the rest of you, get back to class! Shame on you for not stopping this conundrum sooner,” the teacher voiced sternly._

_The boys gave each other dirty looks as they walked with the teacher to the principal’s office. There, they sat down in front of their principal, awaiting their punishments._

_“Is this how you set an example at a prestigious school like this? Shame, shame on all of you,” Principal Burke said shaking his head in disappointment, “Now I checked the security cameras so no need to lie about who did what. You two boys, you’ll be suspended for 2 weeks. I’ll be contacting your parents and be letting them know what transpired today.” He turned to look at Matthew, “As for you, young sir, you’ll be having detention everyday after school for about a month. Although, you didn’t do much wrong you still fought back. Now get out of my sight!”_

* * *

_FlashBack End_

* * *

“No reason,” Matthew concluded.

Not wanting to question it further, Chike made an ‘okay’ face and turned to face the the supervisor for his detention.

Chike waited his mandatory five minutes, after the teacher did the whole devices speech and left, before getting his things and standing up from his desk.

“Where are you going?” Matthew asked confused.

Chike turned back to look at Matthew. He debated on whether to tell Matthew about his hangout place or just blatantly ignore him and leave. After a couple seconds of deliberation he decided on the former.

Although, Chike didn’t say anything verbally. He nudged his head towards the door signalling Matthew to follow him.

Matthew got the message, packed his things and followed Chike. Millions of thoughts ran through Matthew’s head. Despite all his worries, curiosity won the better of him and he followed Chike till they got to their destination.

Chike opened the second door that led to the roof and Matthew stood at the entry in awe. Like Chike when he first discovered this place, Matthew was at a loss for words. The sky looked just as magnificent as the first day Chike found it. There were few clouds in sight and as the birds silently flew by, Matthew’s grin grew.

He looked away from the sky to see that Chike was sitting at the roof’s edge, quietly basking in the therapeutic serenity of this environment. Matthew walked forwards and sat down around two feet away, parallel from Chike.

“It’s… beautiful,” Matthew said breaking the comfortable silence, “How’d you find this place?” He turned to look at Chike, waiting for a response.

Chike shrugged. “I ditched the classroom during my first detention and just wondered the halls till I found this place,” he explained still looking out towards the horizon. He looked at Matthew for a brief second. “It’s nice to get away sometimes, you know?”

Matthew nodded his head and turned back to look at the landscape.

With the both of them facing the pristine blue sky, something changed. They may not have realized it but this was the beginning of something new.


	20. Things just got a whole lot more complicated

It was early afternoon and Chike was bored out of his mind. Like always. He was sitting with Matthew’s friend group as he usually does at lunch just thinking about random things. Mostly school.

‘It’s exactly what I’ve imagined it would be up until now,’ Chike started to rant, ‘A boring place, filled with boring mortals learning a boring school curriculum. Everything is just so unnecessary, especially the homework that I never do. Cupid would probably do it to being the goody-two shoes that she is but it’s not like I’d get kicked out of school anyways. I mean I created poison and the worst those mortals of authority could do was give me detention. The only reason I’m here at this stupid establishment is to ruin Cupid’s plans.’

Chike paused in his rant. ‘Wait a minute. I haven’t been doing that have I?’ Chike questioned himself. He rolled his eyes, face-palmed and groaned, ‘Impossible?! I, Dark Cupid, haven’t been breaking hearts while being pretty much surrounded by so many potential victims. Yet, Cupid’s been jumping around all over the place, making people fall in love, while I'm completely off-guard?! I won’t allow it!’

Wanting to finally do what he came for, at this school, he activated his powers. With his eyes glowing red, he was immediately greeted by a soulmate string. His eyes traced the string till he saw the person attached on each end. To his surprise, the pair was Anej and Elvin. Chike mentally berated himself on not having noticed sooner that a soulmate couple was sitting with him this whole time.

He took a deep sigh and shook out of his shock. Silently, he summoned a small shadow of his. Swiftly and discreetly, he made the shadow hit the pair. Instantly it made the pair’s cheerful and playful interaction turn sour.

Elvin and Anej both frowned at each other and started to argue about seemingly unnecessary things. The whole group noticed the sudden mood change and tried to help the pair make amends but nothing they did seemed to help. It only seemed to fuel the fire more until eventually Anej stormed out of the cafeteria, ending the argument on a bad note.

Chike smirked, internally praising himself for finally having done something good or should he say bad. It was also somewhat entertaining to see other try and mend the situation but alas nothing they did would help.

Chike grinned evilly. He couldn’t wait to wreak more havoc.

* * *

As third period was coming to a close, Alfred and Krystian exited the boys’ changing room, having just finished getting ready. They walked side by side in a comfortable silence, wanting to go to the hangout zone since it was their break, when Alfred’s English teacher called out to them.

“Good afternoon gentlemen. Since it’s your break I was wondering if you would be so kind as to help me bring these boxes to my classroom. It wouldn’t take very long seeing as you two are strong,” the teacher asked them.

Having no problem, they agreed to help. The teacher told them the room number and as there were only 3 boxes they each grabbed one. The teacher had a few more things to do and would join them a bit later with the last box. Being given the key to the room, the two boys started their journey.

They made it to the hallway next to the hangout zone when Alfred start to look around. He wasn’t looking for anything particular, just wanted to glance at things. But, it was then that he noticed something- or rather, someone.

It was Ugo and her friends. They were sitting near the edge of the zone close to where Alfred and Krystian were walking. The group just seemed to be talking and laughing while munching on snacks they most likely got from the vending machine nearby. Although what the group was doing was completely normal, Alfred couldn’t help but stare at Ugo.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. He noticed all the little details conforming on her face from the way her eyes crinkle when she laughs to the slight dimples on each side of her mouth, that reveal themselves when she smiles. He was so mesmerized by her that he stopped focusing on what he was doing. His foot catches onto his ankle and crashes down on the floor with a bang, dropping the box and its contents onto the floor as well.

Ugo heard the bang and turned to her head to see what had happened. She saw Alfred on the floor and all the books scattered on the tiles. A thought about going over to help him pick up the books crossed her mind. She contemplated it for a bit but ultimately decided against it. Turning back to the group, she continued to eat her snack.

Daniella, while drinking on her juice box, noticed the inner turmoil going on inside inside her friend’s head as it was very obviously shown on Ugo’s face. When Daniella saw that Ugo turned back and started to eat again she thought, ‘Nope, not on my watch. You’re about to re-think that decision.’

Very discreetly, Daniella twirled a small fragment of a sun ray and dipped it into a potion. The particular potion, that she laced the ray with, helped to persuade one partner into going through with the action they wanted to do for the other person. With the ray ready, she flung it at Ugo and sat back, waiting for what was about to happen.

As soon as the ray hit Ugo, she was overcome with an urge to go through with what thought about doing. Placing her snack down, she stood up and walked over to where Alfred was. She knelt down and started to pick up the books along with Alfred.

Now Alfred hadn’t noticed her walking over, having been preoccupied picking up the books, but he did notice when she knelt down and started to help him. He looked at her and she looked at him. After a couple seconds of just staring at each other, Ugo gave him a slight smile and immediately got back to picking up the books. Alfred followed suite.

They worked in unison, like a well oiled machine, picking the books like rapid fire. Eventually, there was only one book left on the ground and they both reached to pick it up. Their hands met on top of the book and they froze.

Ugo and Alfred lifted their heads and gazed at each other, the slightest bit of shock prominent on their faces. Shaking out of his shocked demeanour, Alfred pulled his hand back first seeing as it was on top of Ugo’s hand. He sat back, looking away while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Also haven shaken out of her shocked demeanour, Ugo quickly picked up the final book placing it in the box. Picking it up, she handed the box back to Alfred. Their hands brushed against each other during the transaction, and went Ugo knew Alfred had a good hold on it she turned to leave.

“Wait!” Alfred yelled a bit quickly. Ugo turned back to meet his gaze and waited for him to continue.

“Uh,” Alfred started somewhat flustered. “Thanks for your help. I’ll see you in class!” He said giving her one of his signature grins.

Ugo smiled back, nodding, and went back to where Daniella and Christina were seated.

Christina didn’t say anything but, she raise her eyebrow and give Ugo one of ‘those’ grins. Ugo didn’t say anything back. She just rolled her eyes smiling the whole time.

All the meanwhile Daniella was just sitting there smiling, happy that her involvement created another moment within this ship. She just knew that things were going to happen between the two of them.

* * *

It was nearing the end of the school day and the English teacher had just finished the lesson for the period. “Alright class, that’s it for the lesson today,” the teacher started to say, “Now for the next week or so you’ll be working on the project that I had briefly mentioned before. For this project you’ll be working in partners and be reenacting a scene from Shakespeare’s _Romeo and Juliet._ I have already chosen who you will be working with as well as the scene you will be doing. All the information is up on the board.”

As the teacher finished explaining, many students ran up to the board wanting to know who they were working with and the scenes they were doing. Ugo, however, just waiting until most of the crowd dispersed. She then got up and calmly walked to the board. She took a look at the list reading who she to be partners with.

Ugo froze in shock. Her partner was… Alfred?!

“Huh, guess we’re partners then,” a familiar voice said from behind her. Ugo quickly pivoted around to see who it was. It was Alfred.

Finding the courage to speak, she said, “Yup, we are.”

“Nice, do you know what scene we’re doing?” Alfred replied.

“Huh? Oh, wait lemme check.” Ugo read which scene they were supposed and looked it up in her book. She skimmed it over and realized that it was the death scene.

“Oh, we’re doing the death scene,” Ugo said to Alfred.

When she read further, a particular word made her stop in her tracks.

_…kiss…_

Alfred noticed something was off. “Is everything okay?” He questioned her, concerned.

Ugo didn’t say anything. She just slid her book to Alfred and pointed to the words of saying to him ‘see for yourself’. When he read it he had the same look of shock Ugo did just moments before.

As they looked at each other and gave the same ‘uh-oh’ type of look, a thought passed through Ugo’s mind, ‘This class just got a whole lot more complicated.’


	21. An Unlikely Friendship

At the same time in math class, the teacher had just finished the lesson for the day and had already handed out the homework for students to work on. Although Daniella didn’t dislike math, she became easily confused about why people used the terms they did for it. Wanting to understand what the words meant, Daniella turned to Christina and asked, “Christina, what does cosine mean?”

Christina paused in her writing and turned towards Daniella. Blinking twice she said, “How am I supposed to know? A random just named it.”

Daniella whined, “I thought you were the smart one in this subject.”

“Doesn’t mean I know the history of it!!” Christina countered.

Daniella shrugged. Whispering ‘okay’ to herself, she turned back to her work and tried to complete it using the information she learned from the lessons as well as asking Christina questions about things she didn’t understand, here and there. When Daniella finished about three-quarters of the work she decided to take a break, to rest her mind a bit and recharge.

She started to doodle in her notebook. Just some small things, like flowers, hearts and squiggles, nothing too extravagant. While doodling she noticed that something was… off about the class, like there was something… missing. Daniella thought about what it could be and, after a couple seconds, realized that it was too quiet. She placed her pencil on the desk and looked around the class.

Most of the students were focused on their work and the teacher was busy looking through some papers. However when she looked around again, her gaze landed on a particular person and her mind immediately became concerned.

Daniella was looking at Chike. For the most part, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He was sitting there doing nothing like usual. But, when her gaze rested on his face she knew something was up.

He was smirking.

_Chike never smirks in class_.

Quickly springing into action, Daniella frantically searched around the room for what could have cause this reaction out of him. Then she notice it or rather them.

It was Anej and Elvin. But, at the same time it wasn’t. They weren’t laughing or making jokes. They weren’t even looking at each other. They both had frowns on their faces and were brooding.

Between Chike’s smirk and their mood, Daniella rapidly made the realization that Chike had done something to them.

She scowled. ‘Nope not today mister,’ she though to herself. Instantly, she prepped the run laced with her ‘love’ potion. Now this potion was specifically tailored to cancel out Dark Cupid’s influence on a couple. She had only recently developed it after getting a sample of his shadows. Although she could have used the other potion to have them become enamoured with each other, Cupid wanted the feelings to develop naturally rather than force them. As Cupid always says “Love takes time.”

Very discreetly, she shot it towards the pair. The moment it hit them, it was if an invisible veil had been lifted. Elvin turned around to look at Anej and her gaze met his. Slowly, she began to smile and in turn so did he. It seemed like things were back to normal.

Daniella turned back to look at Chike and noticed he was staring at her with a scowl on his face. He looked as if he were about to do something when the bell rang and the students started to move around. Chike’s scowl only grew deeper and Daniella just smirked, sticking her tongue out at him as well.

It was as if she were saying ‘HA! Suck it!!’ Quickly packing her things, she left the classroom along with Christina. Chike only looked at the door long after she was gone thinking, ‘I’ll get you next time. That’s a promise.’

* * *

Five minutes after the bell rang, Janna continued to walk back to the place where she would be picked up by Pheonix to get transported back to her home. At first when she learned that Chike enrolled in her school, she was shocked and a bit annoyed. However, she quickly got passed that and just stopped caring about it. As long as he didn’t do anything to her friends, she would be fine. Additionally, him getting in trouble was somewhat guaranteed of him knowing how he is.

Since her brother was in detention, Janna wasn’t rushing to get to the pick up spot. Although, she never really cared about getting home quickly anyways. So Janna just decided to take a leisurely stroll there. She was enjoying the serenity of the walk itself when she passed by a bubble tea store. Immediately she thought, ‘Hmm, I’ve got a craving for some bubble tea now.’

Not having a care for how long she would be, Janna entered the place with the intention of getting some for herself. However, before she could even go check out the menu, she bumped into someone. The collision made the stranger drop what they were holding onto the floor. Janna went to pick up the object before the stranger could and held it out for them to take.

“Oh sorry,” Janna apologized.

“Ah, no no it was my fault. I should’ve been looking to where I was going,” the stranger said reaching to take back the object from Janna’s hand.

Just then, Janna noticed what the object was. It was an anime theme wallet, but not just any anime. It was Janna’s all time favourite anime, My Villainous College.

“Oh!,” Janna exclaimed, “You watch My Villainous College?”

“Huh?” The stranger said confused. They looked down to their wallet and came to a realization. “Oh, yea, I do! It’s my favourite anime!”

“Mine too.”

“Really!?” The stanger questioned. Janna nodded.

Quickly realizing something, the stranger asked, “What’s your name?”

“It’s Janna,” Janna replied, “But call me Jan.”

“I’m Vianne! If you want, why don’t we go order some drinks and talk more about MVC!”

“Sure.”

With that, Jan and Vianne bought some bubble tea, sat down at a table and dived into deep, lengthy conversation about MVC. They talked about the plot, their favourite characters, and what they wished would’ve actually happened in the show/manga. They talked for what seemed like hours but in reality was just like thirty minutes.

“Sooo,” Vianne started, “Do you have any ships that you like? I have so many, like, I can’t just choose a favourite you know? They’re all amazing in their owns ways and I can’t just choose one!”

“Oh yea, I’m not really into that kind of stuff. Like, romance is not my kind of thing. Plus it’s a shonen jump anime, it’s more about the action than anything, which is what I like,” Janna replied disinterested.

Vianne was surprised. “Really?! That’s kinda funny. We both love the same show but we enjoy some parts more than others. Ships just make these types of shows more spicy, you know? I mean, what’s better than obvious romance? In-between romance, obviously! That way, you can really analyze interactions between specific characters to pick up on things like chemistry and compatibility, to pair up people that could really work out in romantic relationships. Then, you could just fangirl about…” Vianne continued to rant.

Janna, on the other hand, was a bit flabbergasted. ‘Yikes, she sure does talk a lot,’ Janna thought, ‘I could never imagine being _this_ passionate about shipping. It’s kinda scary.’

Just then, Janna got a notification from her phone. She picked it up and saw that one of her friends sent her a video. Curious, she opened the messaging app and played the video. It was a video of what went down with Matthew and those other two boys.

Janna knew Matthew from her History class but she never really talked to him. Although from what she saw of him, Janna didn’t expect him to pick up a fight. Replaying the video she realized why her friend sent it to her.

He was defending _Chike_.

Janna didn’t even know that Matthew knew her brother but low and behold, here he was, _fighting_ because of _him._ Albeit, Jan thought the way that the two boys were acting was super immature but, she didn’t think they should’ve fought because of it.

Vianne noticed that Janna was no longer paying attention to her and instead frowning at something on her phone. Curious, she asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Huh?” Janna said, shaking out of her daze, “Oh, yea. One of my friends sent me this video of a fight that broke out in our school.”

“Can I see?”

“Sure.”

After Janna showed Vianne the video, Vianne was speechless to say the least.

“Wow,” Vianne said. ‘Wait, Chike. Dark Cupid. Has a _friend_!?’ Vianne shouted in her mind, ‘huh, that’s… something alright.’

“Yea, someone must have been eavesdropping on them before they decided to film it,” Janna pointed out, “And it’s all over Outube now.” Janna sighed, “You know? This is really disappointing considering that our school is known to be very prestigious and stuff. Speaking about school… I never did ask you but, which school do you go to and what’s your age?”

Vianne thinking on the spot said, “Oh, I’m homeschooled and I’m 15 years old. What school do you go to?”

“Only the biggest one in the city. Goldenhearts Central Highschool.”

‘Wait a minute,’ Vianne thought, ‘Goldenhearts… And her name’s Janna… OMG it’s that Janna. The one who was supposed to be Daniella’s guide for her first week at school. Man, I’m dumb for not realizing. Oh what a coincidence that I’d bump into her here.’

Vianne just had come to the city to get a bubble tea drink since they don’t have any stores where she lived. It was good that she did cause she got to meet Janna and make a new friend.

Getting back to the topic on hand, Vianne said, “Oh, yea. I’ve heard about your school. You guys are supposed to be like very pristine and stuff right? Never imagined that a fight like this could happen. Also very unfortunate for the people in the fight as well the one being fought over.”

“Yea…” Janna replied.

When she gets home she’s going to tell Chike about this. She knows her brother isn’t the friendliest person so what brought upon this unlikely friendship with Matthew? She had so many questions as to why and how two people that seem like polar opposites could be friends. But one way or another, Janna was going to get some answers.


	22. I Don't Need Friends

Chike just got home from detention and he was… not elated per say but definitely more _happy_ than his usual brooding-self. Nothing actually happened during detention, well nothing to his liking but it was still quite enjoyable to say the most. But alas, he was home and ready to do some heart breaking.

Chike was about to head to his office, when he passed by the living area and noticed his little sister on the couch. It isn’t unusual for her to be sitting on the couch when he got home late sometimes but, it seemed different today. It was almost as if she were waiting for him.

Having sensed someone looking at her, Janna turned. Realizing it was Chike, she quickly got the video on her phone and showed the screen to Chike.

“Do you know what this is?” Janna asked sternly.

Chike blinked. “Well, hello to you too little sister. I’m doing great thanks for asking,” he replied sarcastically.

Janna rolled her eyes. “Here just- Watch this.” She grabbed Chike’s hand, placing the device in it, and pressed play.

As Chike watched the video he showed no emotion on his face, keeping his poker face throughout it all. This is what would be seen to the untrained eye but, Janna knew better. She could see glimpses of emotions flicker through Chike’s eyes. Shock, confusion and… anger? Janna didn’t know what to make of them but this just told her that he had no idea this had happened.

“…What is this?” Chike asked at last after the video having ended.

Janna sighed and took back her phone. “One of my friends sent me this and judging by your look, you didn’t know about it either. But, I have to say I’m shocked. I didn’t think you were capable of making a friend like that, seeing as you’re so _heartless._ ”

Chike snapped at her, “He’s not my friend.”

Janna raised her eyebrow. ‘Really?’ she thought. “Okay, if you say so,” she said. Janna headed back to the couch, sitting on it criss-cross. “Anyways, I just thought you might’ve wanted to know about this, seeing as it as it was something concerning you”

To that, Chike didn’t respond. He turned and headed to his original destination. Not much ran through his head at the moment with anger simmering beneath and confusion deep within.

Tomorrow, he would confront Matthew and give it to him straight. He was no damsel in distress. He didn’t need to be defended. Nor did he need help. It was always just Chike against the world. And that’s how it will _always_ be.

* * *

The first thing Chike did once he entered his first period class was walk up to Matthew and say, “Did you think I wasn’t going to find out?”

Matthew stopped what he was doing and looked up at Chike, confused. “What are you talking about?” Matthew questioned.

Chike rolled his eyes. “Cut the act! I know what you did.”

“I’m drawing a blank. What did I do?”

He rubbed his temples and groaned. “The video! The one of you fighting those imbeciles! Yesterday you said it was nothing but, turns out it was! Which explains those bandages on your face!”

Matthew raised his hand to touch the bandages on his face. “Oh,” he said in realization of what Chike was talking about.

Chike continued. “I didn’t need to be defended! I can take care of myself! I’m not some weak nerd that can’t hold himself against a few idiotic low lives!”

“Whoa! Hey,” Matthew raised his hands in surrender, “I never said you were a weak nerd. Besides, they were going to pull a hurtful prank on you. I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing! That’s what friends are for!”

“We’re! Not! Friends!” Chike punctuated each word seethingly.

“Well, if we’re not friends, why do you sit with me at lunch? Why do we always sit next to each other in class? Why did you show me your secret place? If we’re not friends, why do all this?” Matthew asked sternly.

Chike fumed. “I don’t need friends! Never have and never will! Don’t go assuming things based on ridiculous accusations! I don’t need nor want your help!”

Matthew crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging. A look of annoyance plagued his face. “Fine. If you say so. I’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”

Chike nodded his head in agreement and stormed off to another seat. As soon as he left, Matthew released the tension from his posture and sighed, shaking his head.

The few people seated in the class were shocked into silence having seen the whole dispute. Daniella watched as the scene unfolded. She appeared quite surprised as even **she** noticed the relatively good friendship that the pair have built in the last couple of weeks.

In the thousands of years that she has known her cruel counterpart, Matthew was the first friend the Chike had ever made, even if he refused to admit it. She sighed, wishing she had the ability to fix friendships as she did with romantic relationships. 

But when Dark Cupid is involved, things _never_ happen as one would hope.


	23. A Lousy Day

Finally, it was the day that they were going to present their music projects. And for the most part everyone played quite well.

When it was Chike and Matthew’s turn to present, it was obvious something was off. The tension between them was awkward but they otherwise played well. When they finished, neither looked at the other and they went back to their desks.

After many, many days Daniella had finally learned to play the drums properly- or at least the part that she was supposed to play for their project. So when she and Ugo got up to present their ostinato, they did mediocre at the least. But all in all, the pair had quite a blast throughout the whole experience.

When the time came for Christina and Krystian to present their piece, they played with so much raw emotion. As this project helped to develop their relationship, they projected that development into their performance and played it quite passionately. In the end, they finished by looking at each other lovingly.

With the final performance having ended, the bell rang and they were off to their next classes.

* * *

Daniella, Christina, and Ugo were all in the hangout zone as they usually were during the break. As they ate their snacks, they saw many others socializing and talking around them. It was mostly about random things that the trio didn’t really care about. However, Daniella overheard something that caught her interest.

“Do you guys know what video they’re talking about?” Daniella asked. She’d overheard many people talking about this specific topic and finally decided to ask about it.

Ugo and Christina looked at her questioningly. “Video?” Christina asked confused.

“You know. The one that everyone seems to know about. Everyone’s talking about it!” Daniella explained.

Suddenly Ugo’s expression changed in realization. “Ohhh, you must mean the video about the students who got into a fight here. Yea, oof, a lot happened there.”

“Wait, what?” Christina said.

“Yea, here. Let me show you.” Ugo took out her phone and played the video for her friends to see. After it finished, Christina and Daniella were somewhat in shock.

“Damn. I mean it’s not like they didn’t deserve it. They were planning to hurt someone here but I feel bad for the other guy. He was just trying to stop it,” Christina said.

“Yea, I agree. Those two other guys were unjustifiably mean but, gosh. Why is this even online? I don’t think that’s very fair for the people in the video.” Daniella explained.

Ugo shrugged, “Yea, I’m with you. But, it’s too late now.”

Across the area, a similar conversation was transpiring between another friend trio.

“Yea! And then, he like, tripped him and it was just a mess,” Christine said.

“I know right! Also, why is this video such good quality like- how did they even get all this footage from beginning to end even before the fight started? They even got footage from when those two were planning on pranking the transfer student- the cold one. Like how??” Paty rambled.

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that when those two come back, they’re gonna be hated big time,” Christine said. Paty nodded in agreement.

All while her friends were discussing this popular topic, Janna was busy putting things away in her locker. She was- quite clearly- not paying any attention whatsoever as she had already become annoyed with it. Janna rolled her eyes. ‘It’s just a fight. Like. When are people gonna move on from it? Come on!’ She thought to herself.

Her friends took notice of her disinterest and unceasingness towards this prevalent topic.

Christine asked, “What do you think of it Jan?”

Janna sighed. “In all honesty, the only thing that this video is doing is giving a supposedly prestigious school, like this one, a bad reputation. Why can’t students just act civilized for once? I mean seriously, what parent is gonna wanna enrol their child in a school were students behave cruelly towards one another? Is this the future of GoldenHearts Central Highschool? ‘Cause if so, I don’t like it!” She ranted.

The other pair was shocked into silence until Christine spoke up.

“Gee Janna, I didn’t know you were so upset about the whole video ordeal,” she said.

Paty nodded, “Yea, but I mean, I agree. I guess upholding a good reputation is important, more to you than most students. Has anyone ever told you that you’d make a great student council president? I believe those who are running for office will be starting campaign next month. If you’re still up for it, you can choose to be a candidate.”

“Yes, I’ve been told that before.” ‘Many, many, many times before,’ she thought to herself. “I’ll think about it, I mean there’s still a month before it all starts. I’ll see by then,” she said.

“Alright! Let’s go now. All this talk made me hungry,” Christine said. The trio walked over to the vending machine but on their journey there they walked by a very familiar face.

Chike’s day wasn’t going so great. Because of his fight with Matthew, he didn’t sit with him and his friends instead opting to spend his lunch at his secret place. It was the only place he wanted to be at since there was no one there. But this time around, it was different and he couldn’t conclude as to why. Additionally he also had to deal with Cupid’s yapping in his classes and that dampened his mood even more.

Just then, he smirked having come up with a great idea to lift up his mood. Chike hid behind one the pillars there and very discreetly summoned many of his shadows. He activated his soulmate detection powers and his eyes flashed red. Rapidly, Dark Cupid sent out his shadows to every pairing he could see in his vicinity. Already his mood perked up and he could tell this was going to be fun.

But, his actions didn’t go unnoticed.

Daniella jerked her head up. She immediately sensed Chike’s dark magic coming into play. Looking around she could visibly see many couples starting to bicker and outright fight. Not wanting to let this go undealt with, Daniella quickly excused herself from her friends.

She hid behind another pillar opposite to Chike’s one. Doing the same a Chike did, she gathered up some light rays and dipped them in her potion. Activating her powers, her eyes flashed pink and Cupid reversed all the hate Dark Cupid spread.

Her actions weren’t gone unnoticed by him however. So Chike redid what Daniella undid and thus their game of back and forth started. Each counterpart kept redoing and undoing what the other did, their frustration and annoyance growing every minute they continued. Unironically, this ‘battle’ reminded them of that one time of where they did the same thing.

Daniella was about to redo what she did when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Daniella?” A voice said.

She quickly composed herself and turned to face the voice. Christina and Ugo were standing right infront of her with a very confused look of their faces.

“I though you had to go to the washroom?” Ugo asked.

Daniella laughed nervously, “Oh! Yea, I did.”

Christina rolled her eyes, “Well, come on then! The bell is gonna ring soon and I don’t want to be late.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll catch up with guys soon,” Daniella said.

“No, we’re going now,” they said grabbing onto Daniella and dragging her with them.

In her mind, Daniella said, ‘Noooooo, I need to finished this!’ Glaring at Chike, she mentally said, ‘I’ll get you next time! Just you wait.’

Chike, having seen that interaction, smirked at Daniella and thought, ‘One point for Dark Cupid. And this is only the beginning.’

* * *

It was the beginning of English class and the teacher had just dismissed the students to work on their projects.

Ugo and Alfred turned to look at each other, a silent agreement passing between them. They both got up from their desks and walked up to the teacher.

The teacher looked at them and asked, “What can I do for you two?”

Ugo spoke, “Um, we were just wondering if, for our _Romeo & Juliet_ scene, is it completely necessary to include the kiss? We just don’t feel… um, very comfortable doing it, so is there any chance we can take that part out?”

Alfred nodded his head in agreement.

The teacher took a deep breath and said, “I understand where you two are coming from but, the goal here is to reenact the scenes by staying true to Shakespeare’s original vision. Therefore, we can’t change that part of the scene.”

Ugo and Alfred made an ‘um, what?’ face and looked at each other.

“However,” the teacher continued, “It isn’t necessary for you two to actually perform the kiss. There is something called a stage kiss you know.”

“Right…” the pair said simultaneously.

They went back to seats and started to go over their scenes. For the most part, them going over their lines together went smoothly. However, when it came down to them actually acting out the scene, it didn’t go so well.

Throughout it all, the pair kept thinking about how they were supposed to do the kiss which hindered their performance. And when it came to them doing the actual kiss, they both flinched and chickened out. The rest of the class went by and to no avail they couldn’t make that part work out. Soon enough it was time to pack up their things and get ready.

Alfred had already finished packing his bag while Ugo still had a few more thing to put away. Suddenly coming up with this great idea, he walked over to where Ugo was. She looked up at him, seemingly giving a look of inquiry as to why Alfred was there.

He took a deep breath and said, “Today was not a very good work period huh?”

“Nope,” Ugo said popping the ‘p’.

“Hey, I have an idea. If you’re free, why don’t we hangout at the nearby park this afternoon? We can get to know each other better and it’ll help us feel more comfortable while doing the project. Plus what do we have to lose?” Alfred explained.

Ugo pondered upon this for a little also thinking if she had anything planned that day. “Sure, why not,” she said ultimately.

Alfred flashed his genuine smile at her, something she was slowly becoming accustomed to, and said, “Great! I’ll see you later then.”

Giving a smile of her own, Ugo replied, “See you!”

Despite it being the end of school, their day was just beginning.


	24. Good Together

Chike had made it to the designated classroom for his detention that day. Upon his arrival he noticed that no one was there yet. He let out a breathe of relief. Him and Matthew were still not on good terms from that morning (mostly because of Chike) and he **refused** to deal with Matthew’s presence.

He figured avoiding him would be the best option. Although he had been doing this the entire day, Chike thought of a more effective way to better fulfil his needs. Activating his powers, he turned himself invisible.

Cupid may have her little invisibility contraption that works with the press of a button but, Chike has a much more convenient way of making himself invisible. That is, having the ability to manipulate shadows in his favour.

He went to go sit in one of the desks when Matthew walked in. Taking one glance at the seemingly empty classroom, Matthew sighed and went to sit in a desk. Coincidentally, it was the same desk that Chike was currently seated in.

Chike’s eyes went wide realizing what was about to happen. Quickly snapping his fingers, Chike’s wings manifested along with his usual black attire (still under his invisibility spell) and he shot up towards the ceiling. ‘Ugh, that was close,’ Chike thought relieved.

He flew off to the side and landed softly on another desk. Tucking away his wings, Chike sat down facing forwards. He was determined to act as if Matthew wasn’t there at all. The longer he sat there, the faster he grew bored. Eventually after a minute or two, he decided to head out to the rooftop. Chike would finally be able to stretch his wings and have some peace and quiet to himself.

But just as he was about to get up, someone beat him to it. Matthew stood up from his desk. Grabbing his things, he walked out of the classroom.

Curious as to where Matthew was headed, Chike swiftly went and followed him. Staying just a few feet behind the other, Chike followed Matthew through a familiar path leading to a very familiar place.

Once they made it to the designated area, Chike watched Matthew with curious eyes.

Now Matthew didn’t do much at first. He walked up to the ledge and looked out into the horizon. The serenity of it all comforted his mind. He took a deep breathe, breathing in the coolness of the air, and exhaled it following through with a sigh.

“Of course he’s not here, he’s obviously avoiding me,” Matthew said rolling his eyes, “I still don’t understand what his deal is- just because I defended his honour in front of two bullies. Anyone would do that for their friend.” Matthew paused. “Heh, friend. He doesn’t even **consider** me a friend. Even after all this time we’ve been hanging out together, you’d think we’d have form some type of relationship. And with all the things I’ve done for him too, like…”

Matthew’s words became muffled as Chike thought to himself. He tuned out from reality, thinking about his words. ‘Well, now I’m insulted! Does this idiot think he did that much for me? Do I owe him my friendship? No, I don’t!’ Fuming, Chike reappeared and stomped up to Matthew.

“… But what do I expect? He’s as stubborn as he always is and always has been. My-”

“I don’t owe you anything!” Chike yelled interrupting Matthew.

He flinched, startled by the sudden appearance of another person. Turning around with a look of shock on his face, Matthew saw Chike stomping towards him, anger evident on his face.

“You think being nice is gonna earn you my friendship? Not that I have much experience but I doubt that’s how it works!” Chike yelled.

Matthew gulped. “H-how long have you been standing there?” He said apprehensively.

“That doesn’t matter!” Chike said ignoring what Matthew said, “Now answer my question! Why are you being nice to me? From what I’ve seen, most people at this school are afraid of me. Anytime I set foot in the hallways people _quiver_ in fear! Why’re _you_ any different?! Is it because you think being nice to me will automatically put you on my good side!? Are you secretly afraid that I’ll do bad to you if you aren’t my friend?! Everyone is intimidated by me, and they should be, including **you**!”

Matthew was shocked into silence. “Okay…” He started saying slowly, his face morphing into a look of seriousness. “That is not why I want to be your friend,” he said calmly. “Ever since you arrived at the school, all I’ve wanted to do was make you feel welcome… so you wouldn’t be alone.”

Chike interrupts him by saying, “I enjoy being alone.”

A brief silence passed between them.

“Anyways,” Matthew started, “I _know_ other students are afraid of you. I hear them say things like ‘he’s scary, cold, intimidating and heartless’. But, I just don’t see that. What I see is a person who deserves kindness and respect like any other being. I mean, how would people know who you really are if they refuse to even give you a chance?” Matthew paused, “And besides, I do genuinely enjoy your company. It’s just your decision whether or not you want to believe that.”

Chike was at a loss for words. You could see the mental gears turning in his head, processing what Matthew had said and what it means. Minutes passed until everything finally clicked for Chike and he _understood_. His face features softened and the corners of his lips turned upwards just a tiny of bit. He looked as if he were about to speak but then decided against it at the last second.

Instead, he turned to sit at the edge of the roof. Chike looked out to the horizon but his eyes were unfocused, glazed over as if he were still thinking. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Seconds passed before he lifted one hand and patted the area beside him, indicating what he wanted Matthew to do.

Matthew smiled, knowing what this meant. He went and sat down beside Chike as he was offered. He too looked at the beautiful sunset that was now descending gently upon the horizon.

Chike opened his eyes and turned to look at Matthew. Matthew, still smiling, noticed this and turned to look at Chike. Although no words were spoken between them, they could see how the other felt. The pair turned their eyes back to the horizon and watched in serenity. And at this moment nothing could change.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Chike, ‘Wait a minute… How did he even unlock the door?’

* * *

Meanwhile, Ugo and Alfred had met up at the same park they went to when they exchanged jackets. It was an… _awkward_ memory for both of them. Hopefully, this time won’t be the same.

After the initial greeting, Ugo and Alfred had no idea what to do. They stood close to each other most of the time trying to avoid eye contact. On the few times that their eyes did meet, they gave each other awkward smiles until one of them eventually looked away.

As the seconds ticked by, Alfred grew more and more fed up with the awkwardness they seem to always create between them. Finally having enough of this familiar tension, he broke the silence by saying, “So, this weather, am I right?” Realizing what he said, Alfred mentally face palmed himself. ‘Omg that was so not cool, ugh,’ he thought.

Ugo, on the other hand, was amused by his attempt to lessen the awkwardness. She smiled saying, “Yea ok.” Ugo shook her head. “Standing here in silence isn’t going to get us anywhere. Come on, let’s go do something,” she concluded.

“Alright,” Alfred agreed. He walked over to the swing set and got onto one of the seats. “Let’s play on the swings.”

Ugo raised an eyebrow and walked over to where he was. She chuckled, “Heh, what’re you? A little kid?”

“What’re _you_? Too old to have fun?” He countered teasingly.

Ugo scoffed. “We’re the same age!”

Alfred shrugged. “Whatever,” he said smiling and proceeded to swing himself.

“Fine!,” she said getting on the swing. “Too old to have fun? Psh, I can have fun,” she mumbled arranging herself in a comfortable position on the seat.

They swung for a few minutes, each one swinging at their own pace. Ugo swung herself at a moderately high pace while Alfred kept swinging himself higher and higher each time. Eventually, he had begun swinging so high that he decided to jump off the swing.

Alfred shouted, “I’m gonna jump!”

To which Ugo responded by saying, “What?”, as he jumped off and landed perfectly on his feet.

Brushing off imaginary dust, Alfred said, “A perfect landing, if I do say so myself.” He then looked up at Ugo to see her snorting at him. He smirked, “Why don’t you jump?”

“Uh? I don’t think so,” Ugo said and proceeded to swiftly stop herself with her feet.

“I’ll get you to do it one day,” he says confidently.

Getting off the swing, she walked past Alfred towards the playset saying, “We’ll see.”

Flabbergasted, Alfred ran after her and screamed, “Hey! Wait up!”

He caught up to Ugo and they walked side by side towards their destination. They knew that this time, they were going to enjoy their day, together.


	25. Polar Opposites

_One Week Later…_

As the week went by, many events took place.

Elvin and Anej finally confessed their feelings for each other, courtesy of the one and only Cupid of love. To Cupid, they were a considerably more easy soulmate pairing to bring together. Since they were already so comfortable with each other, they just needed a little _persuasion_ to express their true feelings for each other. But, of course, a certain someone always tried to ruin it, which made things more challenging for Cupid.

Dark Cupid had become very much frustrated with his counterpart. He continuously tried to undo Cupid’s magic but as always, her power of love prevailed. Not only did he try to break up the newly formed couple, Dark Cupid spread his hateful magic upon others too. In return, Cupid spread her own magic to those whom he had bewitched. It continued on as this endless cycle. Each counterpart always trying to one up the other but, in the end it got them no where.

On the other hand, after Chike and Matthew cleared up the little quarrel that happened between them, things changed. Well- it didn’t change drastically but certain things did occur. Chike became more ‘tolerant’ towards Matthew and in turn, Matthew grew more mindful of how Chike feels. They were basically friends now, although Chike would never admit that.

Moreover, Alfred and Ugo grew closer every day that passed. Close enough to say that they’re friends, at least. They had been working on the project more and were, for the most part, able to get over the awkwardness surrounding _that_ certain part of the scene. Although, they did nearly perfect it, it didn’t stop the dreaded anticipation of the presentation.

* * *

“Alright class! Presentation day, any volunteers?” the teacher said enthusiastically.

It was finally the day of the highly anticipated and very dreaded English presentation. The front of the classroom was cleared out, creating a fake stage for the students. All of them were in the desks, sitting by their partners and no one raised their hand.

“No one? Well, then we’ll do it in the order of the play. Act I, Scene I! You’re up first!” the teacher announced.

The first group went up to present, then the second, the third and so on. As each scene went by, the closer it got to Alfred and Ugo’s scene. And soon enough, it was their turn to present.

They set up, took their places and thus it started. In the beginning, it went smoothly just like they had practiced. All their lines were said and the correct gestures were made. Then came the moment of truth. As Ugo leaned down, her heart hammered in her chest. She placed her thumb along Alfred’s lips and as quickly as it was said, it was done.

Ugo’s heart slowed down and her anticipation dissipated. She continued her part as she was supposed to do and so did Alfred. He ended it just as they’d practiced and that was it.

Just as it ended, the whole class erupted into applause. Some girls even squealed and started whispering between each other. Although, the pair was too far to hear what it was about. The teacher spoke to calm down the class and they settle down.

Ugo and Alfred finally returned to their seats, happy that it was done and over with.

While the other partners did their presentations, the pair noticed some students whispering among themselves. At first they decided to ignore it, focusing on the presentations instead but soon enough they overheard something that caught their attention.

“Oo, did you see that fake kiss? I ship,” a random girl said.

“Haha, do you think they’re a couple? They look good together.” The other student said in response.

Hearing this, the pair glanced at each other. They shrugged at their classmates’ words, not caring what they had to say about them.

“Yo dude!” Someone called to Alfred.

Alfred turned to face them. He was a melanoid boy with a long narrow face, deep brown eyes and short 4c type hair peaking just a bit.

“What, Steven?” Alfred said. Steven and him are both part of the same friend group along with Matthew and were fortunate to have at least one of their classes together.

Steven wagged his eyebrows. “So, you and Ugo ey?” He said teasingly.

Alfred rolled his eyes, “What are you on about?”

“You know what I mean. So tell me, how was it?” Steven smirked.

Alfred frowned, “We didn’t actually kiss ya idiot!”

“Yea, but I’m sure you wanted to!” He started to laugh while Alfred just rolled his eyes at him.

Although they were whispering, Ugo overheard everything. She felt a bit uncomfortable as she was sitting right there next to them but, she didn’t let what they said get to her. Ugo was just annoyed at what everyone was saying, they didn’t even kiss.

She sighed, hopeful that by tomorrow this whole thing would blow over.

* * *

Vianne was in HQ, sitting on the floor by the cabinets looking through some biographies. This wasn’t something she was not used to but she felt unmotivated almost. Maybe a small snack would change that.

She turned to see Daniella experimenting with chemicals in her secret room with all her weapons. Vianne got up and walked to the entrance.

“I’m going down to earth. I’ll be back in a bit,” she informed Daniella.

With her eyes still focus on the table in front of her, Daniella moved her head and said, “Alright! Come back soon though!”

With a nod of her head, Vianne was off to earth. Not wasting any time, Vianne went to the same bubble tea place she did the last time she came to earth. Going inside, sheentered the queue. While looking at the menu options she noticed a familiar face. Vianne’s face lit up and a huge grin formed on her face.

“Janna!” Vianne yelled.

The person in question looked up from where she was seated and glanced around. After a couple of seconds, Janna saw Vianne waving at her and realize she was the one who yelled. Getting up from her seat, Janna walked over to where Vianne was waiting in line.

“What a coincidence seeing you here. Again,” Janna said.

“Yup! I love this place! Their drinks are the best,” Vianne responded enthusiastically.

“Yea same. I go here pretty often after school.”

“Cool! You wanna talk over some bubble tea like last time?”

“Sure. Why not, I got nothing better to do.”

Once Vianne ordered and payed for her drink, the pair walked over to the booth Janna was previously sitting at and sat down.

Taking a sip out of her drink, Janna spoke, “So, how’re you?”

“Eh, you know. Work’s been… interesting. A lot of monitoring going on. But, that’s alright. I like it, it’s my passion. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!”

“You work? Already? Wow. What do you do?”

“Oh, uh. I work at a, uh, daycare centre,” Vianne said rapidly.

Janna raised and eyebrow. “Cool,” she said in response.

“Yup. So, do you work?” Vianne asked taking the conversation off of herself.

“Oh, no. I never really thought of that.” She thought to herself, ‘Should I start working? Nah I’ll wait a few more years.’ “So, a daycare you say? How’s that like?”

Vianne shrugged, “Oh, it’s nice. You know, a lot of kids. Which I love since, well, I used to be around many, back at the orphanage.”

Janna’s eyebrows shot up. “You were an orphan to?!”

Vianne looked at her in shock, “Wait, you were an orphan?!”

“Yea, but I didn’t grow up in orphanage. I was found by my now older brother on the street.”

“Wow,” Vianne said. ‘That’s so sad,’ she complained in her mind. “You’re very fortunate that your older brother found you. I know my life would have been completely different if I hadn’t been taken in by my now older sister.”

“Fortunate isn’t the word I’d used,” Janna mumbled. “Oh no, honey, if you lived with my brother, yikes. It’s not as great as it sounds, trust me. But, I am grateful that I was at least given a home. That much I’ll say.”

“Oh, what’s your brother like?” Vianne asked curiously taking a sip of her drink.

‘I was afraid she’d ask that,’Janna thought. “To put it simply… I can’t stand him.”

Vianne choked on her drink not expecting the blunt answer. “Okay… but what’s he _like_? Why can’t you stand him?”

“He’s just annoying. He thinks he’s always right when he’s not and he loses his temper more than… than… a kid who doesn’t get their way. Which, I gotta tell you, sounds exactly like my brother,” Janna ranted.

“Yikes, how old even if your brother?”

“Uhhh, he’s 25.”

“He sounds whiny.”

“Yea, and whenever I enter his lai- uh bedroom, he tells me to get out cause apparently I’ll just bother him.”

“Wow, my sister is like the polar opposite,” Vianne continued, “She always tries to get me to stay in her… _room_ with her. We enjoy each others’ company so we spend a lot of time with one another. But, uh, she can be annoying too at times. Like, she’s super stubborn, never tries to listen to the voice of reason.”

Jan sighed, “At least they have one thing in common, stubborn as hell.”

The pair broke into a grin and started to laugh. After awhile it was time for them to part ways, although not before agreeing to meet up soon. However, Vianne didn’t have a phone (something about not having the need for one) so, Janna offered to her one using what she called ‘Her brother’s Black Card’.

Once the purchase was done, she helped her set it up and they exchanged numbers as to keep in touch before their next get together. They bid their goodbyes to one another, knowing this friendship would last a long time.


	26. One Heck of a Rollercoaster

“…And that’s how that went,” Ugo finished. The trio was at lunch and Ugo had just finished explaining what had happened to her during English class.

Daniella and Christina burst out into laughter.

Christina calmed herself down, “Oh shipping these days, I swear.”

“These days and always,” Daniella added on, “I’ve been shipping people together since day one. Besides, I don’t blame the people in your class for shipping you and Alfred. Now which ship name do you guys think sounds better: Algo or Ufred?”

“I like Algo,” Christina responded with a smirk.

Ugo groaned, “Ugh, stop please!”

Daniella knowingly smiled, “I was just joking.”

“We all know that you weren’t,” Daniella heard Vianne say from the comm.

“Vianne!” Daniella whisper-shouted.

Ugo and Christina looked at Daniella weirdly. “Who’s Vianne?” Ugo asked.

Daniella looked panicked. Her eyes widened and she quickly scrambled for a response. “Vianne? Oh! That’s just the name of my… grandmother,” she said almost immediately. ‘Nice save Daniella, nice save,’ she thought proudly.

Christina tilted her head in confusion, “But what does that have to do wi-”

“Anyways,” Daniella interrupted, “Let’s not change the topic.”

Christina frowned. ‘But you just did,’ she thought.

“Look,” Ugo started, “the shipping isn’t even the worse part. People actually believe we’re a couple because of that one scene.” She put her face into her hands. “Rumours are everywhere,” Ugo said slightly muffled.

Christina raised an eye brow, “Really? I haven’t heard any-”

“Hey! It’s Alfred’s girlfriend. Hi!” A voice shouted, interrupting Christina. The trio turned to see Steven and Gabriel walking to their table.

Ugo rolled her eyes, “Hi, but we’re not- and they left. Ughhhh.”

“Welp,” Christina said, “now I see your point.”

Ugo just planted her face onto the table with Christina and Daniella giving each other a worrying look.

Back with Steven and Gabriel, they headed to their usual table.

“Hey Alfred!” Steven called out, “we just said hi to your girlfriend.”

Alfred sighed and held the bridge of his nose. “Dude! How many times do I have to say it? It’s not like that, we’re just friends.” ‘I can imagine just how uncomfortable Ugo must be feeling right now because of all the rumours. People can’t just mind their own business,’ Alfred thought to himself.

Elvin interrupted his thoughts by slapping him on the back. “Whatever you say, buddy. But that ‘just a friend’ excuse can only last so long. I mean look at me and Anej. We were only friends until we eventually realized our true feelings for each other,” he explained.

Anej smirked. “Yea, eventually,” she said a bit teasingly.

Elvin smiled and looked at Alfred, “It shouldn’t take you that long.”

On the far end of the table, Chike was brooding. It’s no surprise that the duo’s relationship development would very much annoy him; especially with the fact that he used his dark magic on them the previous week, only to be stopped by Cupid.

‘This is just great,’ Chike started to say in his head, ‘Those two were close before but now they won’t keep their hands off of each other which is revolting to say the least. If only I didn’t have detention, I could’ve prevented Cupid from reversing the magic I casted on them last week. Ugh, not that I could’ve prevented much since Cupid would’ve countered me anyway. Having equal powers will never cease to aggravate me.’

Chike turned to look at the pair. He saw how affectionate they were being towards each other and inwardly gagged. Chike decided enough was enough. Stealthily he summoned his shadows and threw them at the pair. As Chike watched his shadows get closer and closer, he smirked. However, it was short-lived. Just as his shadows were about to touch the pair, something hit them and they dissipated.

Chike’s smirk grew into shock. He looked around the cafeteria to find the cause of what happened. His eyes caught onto someone and zoned in on them.

Cupid looked towards Chike with a smile on her face. She stuffed something in her mouth and skipped back to her seat.

Chike was fuming. One day, he would get her off guard and then he’d be the one gloating at her.

* * *

“Ok so, as I hinted at earlier this year, next week we’ll be starting a dance workshop that deals with different ballroom dance styles. For today, I’ll be taking note of who your partner is,” the teacher explained.

It was near the end of gym class and the students had just finished their lesson for the day. All the students were seating on the bleachers listening to their teacher. When the teacher mentioned partners everyone started glancing around to try and meet eyes with their friends.

“But,” the teacher continued on, noticing the glances the students were giving each other, “I will be the one deciding who the pairs will be and I will do so by based on similar heights.”

Everyone groaned and voiced their complaints to the teacher but the decision was final.

“Ugh, whyyyy,” Christina voiced, “Now I can’t be partners with Krystian. I mean I don’t want to dance in general, but I wanna dance with him! Curse my tininess and inability to grow taller.”

Ugo raised an eyebrow at Christina, “That’s your concern!? I don’t want dance PERIODT.” Ugo stared to the front. ‘Especially since there’s a big chance I might end up partners with Alfred,” she thought to herself.

The teacher told all the boys to line up from tallest to shortest and for the girls to do the same. Once they were all in the line, the teacher began calling names indicating which people were partners with who. For the majority of this process, Ugo zoned out. When she heard her name called, Ugo snapped back into reality and waited to see who the teacher would pick t be her partner.

“Your partner will be…” the teacher said glancing around, “…Alfred.”

Ugo’s eye widened and locked eyes with Alfred. She internally groaned. The one person she didn’t want to be her partner… was her partner. Alfred on the other hand didn’t seem to mind it but he did appear to be a bit apologetic since he probably assumed this would make their situation a bit worse. But, they’d see where this went.

The teacher continued to call off names until they eventually came down to the last two people. “And finally we have… Krystian and Christina. I know you two are not close in height at all but you the only ones remaining so we’ll just have to work with it,” the teacher explained.

The pair looked at each other and smiled slyly. They shrugged and gave off a feeling of ‘that works for us’.

Both pairs knew that next week would be one heck of a rollercoaster.

* * *

Daniella yawned and stretched her arms over her head. She had just finished the assigned homework for history class and she was exhausted. It wasn’t that the lesson today was boring or difficult, but it wasn’t exciting either. It was mostly because a lot of the information the school taught was wrong. But, thankfully she was finished.

Since Daniella didn’t have any other homework to complete from her other classes she decided to look around her class to see if there were any soulmates present. Activating her powers, Daniella’s eyes glowed pink and she began to look around the classroom.

‘Ahh, a red string of fate for every person,’ Daniella thought, smiling to herself, ‘Most are completely attached as well, which is what I like to see.’ While looking around, a sudden thought struck Daniella. ‘Huh, I wonder if Janna has a soulmate,’ she pondered, ‘Not sure why it didn’t occur to me before.’

Daniella sneakily looked Janna’s way and saw that she had a string but it wasn’t attached to her pinkie nor did it lead to anyone in the room. ‘Hm, I wonder who it is.’

Taking her attention away from Janna, Daniella looked across the room to see if her arch enemy was up to any funny business. Chike seemed to be behaving and just not doing anything at all.

She was about to look away when something caught her eye. She glanced at the person sitting next to Chike, it was someone she had seen many times before. Matthew was his name, she remembered after thinking about it for a bit.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He seemed like a normal boy. But when Daniella went to look at his string, she froze and her skin turned pale. There was something weird about Matthew’s string. Something that Daniella had never seen before.

His string was glitching.


	27. It was going to be a long weekend.

Cupid blinked once, and then again. She rubbed her eyes, checking to see if she was imagining things or not. She wasn’t. Matthew’s string really was glitching. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she tilted her head slightly.

Cupid had never seen anything like this in her life and come to a fork in the road as to how to proceed. She didn’t know whether it was harmful or not or even it if could be reversed. Whatever it was, she knew she had to figure it out immediately.

As the class neared its end, she knew where she had to go after school. There was only one place that could have the answers she was looking for.

* * *

Cupid stood in front of The Book that her predecessor left before her. It was located in the secret room all the way at the back, enclosed in magic glass that couldn’t be broken. It contained facts, guides and information about Cupid, the duties, the strings as well as other magical creatures and notes left behind from her predecessor. In short, it was big ‘How/What/When/Where/Why/Who' book.

She opened it up to the (long) table of contents and started to drag her finger down, looking for a specific topic. After a few minutes, she came across what she was wanted. Turning to the page indicated, Cupid looked through the Love String of Fate section.

“Ok let’s see here… Mythical being strings aren’t visible… All pairings eventually get together… Attached are conscious, detached are subconscious… yada yada. Facts facts I already know this stuff,” Daniella mumbled to herself, “Maybe I should check the ‘How to’ section.”

As she looked through it, she became increasingly worried. “Come on, come on Cupid! You had to have mentioned something about glitching strings,” She said a bit frustrated.

After some time, Daniella closed the book with an audible bang. “Ugh!” She crossed her arms over her chest, “I can’t believe there’s nothing on this!”

Cupid paced around the room, thinking about what to do next. She was low-key freaking out but knew she couldn’t lose her head. Daniella stopped in her tracks, staring at the floor with her arms still crossed. After a few seconds she uncrossed her arms and said, “I should tell Vianne about this. Maybe we can figure something out.”

Just then Cupid heard the door slam. “I’m back and with Bubble Tea!” Vianne said walking into the room.

“Oh Vianne! I’m glad you’re back,” Daniella said.

“Sadly they got your order wrong. I told the cashier that they made a mistake but then they said that’s what I ordered and when I corrected them, they accused me of lying and not being able to make up my mind,” Vianne explained. She sighed and handed Daniella the bubble tea. “In the end, I just decided to take it and go. Sorry, but it really wasn’t worth my time to just get some-”

“Forget the bubble tea Vianne! We have more pressing matters!” Daniella interrupted.

“Oh boi, what is it this time? Did you misplace your remote control again?” Vianne asked.

“Noooo! This time it’s actually serious!” Daniella emphasized.

“Alright, tell me. What happened?”

“Well,” Daniella started. She then took a sip of her bubble tea and grimaced. “Bleugh! Is there no sugar in this?”

“Like I said, wrong order,” Vianne said, “And didn’t you just say there was something more important than bubble tea?”

“Right!” Daniella continued. She explained everything that happened and how she didn’t know what to do from here on onwards.

“A glitching string? Is that even possible?” Vianne questioned shocked.

“Well apparently. I mean, I did see it with my own two eyes.”

“So, this is what you were concerned with after your History class ended huh. Wait, so when you told me during break ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out.’ You actually didn’t have it figured out at all?”

“Well I thought I did, until I checked The Book and it had nothing.”

Vianne’s eyes widened, “Nothing?!”

“Yea, nothing.”

“Well, that’s a first isn’t it. So, what are you going to do?” Vianne questioned.

Daniella sighed, “I don’t know. There’s nothing I can do for now. I might have to further investigate on Monday but, having to wait that long…”

“Well, you don’t know for sure that it is something dangerous right?” Vianne asked.

“Well, no.”

“Then, it shouldn’t hurt to wait until Monday. When earth school starts again you can just follow this Matthew kid around to get to the bottom of it,” Vianne reassured.

“Yea, I believe that’s for the best.” Daniella smiled at her, “Thanks for being my positivity reinforcer today Vianne!”

“Psh, it’s nothing,” Vianne said as she drank her bubble tea and Daniella stared at her tea in dissatisfaction.

* * *

Chike entered his home after having finished his very normal detention session. He walked through his front foyer hall until he came across the living room. There sat his little sister on one of the sofas and Phoenix was sitting not too far away discreetly looking over Janna while reading a novel.

Chike was about to be on his way as he didn’t care to get involved in domestic affairs when he remembered something.

Him and Matthew are on pretty good terms. Finding out about the video of Matthew fighting those students, though it did cause conflict, made him realize Matthew didn’t just hang out with him because of pity — he genuinely enjoyed his company. In fact, none of this would have occurred if it weren’t for that video… if it weren’t for Janna.

Chike turned towards the sofa and looked at his little sister.

It was clear to him that he owed her a thank you for showing him that video, even if the thought of doing such a thing wasn’t very appealing to him. He made a deep sigh and treaded towards the sofas. Chike stopped directly in front of where Janna was sitting.

She looked up no emotion visible on her face. “Ah, you’re home,” Janna said to him.

“Thank you,” he responded immediately.

“What..?” A look of confusion appeared on her face.

“For showing me that video.”

Some of Janna’s confusion alleviated the minute he mentioned the video as she had only showed him the one. However, she was still puzzled.

“Oh that. But, uh, why are you thanking me for that?” she questioned him.

Chike turned his head and looked off into the distance while answering her. “It… helped clear up some things. That’s all,” he said nonchalantly.

“Oh. Then your welcome?” She said. Even though curiosity was prominent on her face, Janna didn’t press forward for any other information. She looked down and continued to do what she was previously doing.

Chike had left to go to his office to continue wreaking hate upon the world.

And Phoenix? Well, he just sat there through the whole interaction looking towards the two as the conversation occurred.

He blinked once, then twice. Shaking his head, he went back to reading his book.

It was going to be a _long_ weekend.


	28. More Than Meets The Eye

Chike was pacing in his lair. He was making gestures with his hands, his shadows coming and going from wherever he sent them. All of a sudden, he stopped and sat down in his chair. Chike pulled out some files from thin air and started to look through them. As he did this, his mind wandered off to his time in the school and what he had been doing there.

“This is such a disgrace. It seems as though I’ve made no progress with inflicting hate into the hearts of the mortals at that school. Every shadow I’ve casted, every student I’ve changed, EVERYTHING that I’ve done has failed… and because of Cupid no less. Cupid — that sickening, bubbly fool — who I’ve tried to beat for centuries. We’re known to be equal in power and yet, she’s still one step ahead of me,” he ranted in disgust.

He stood up swiftly.

“That’s it!” he exclaimed, “I know I’ve been soft for the most part but now? Now, I’ll show her who Dark Cupid really is.”

Chike smirked to himself. He started to pace again, ‘Now, there’s got to be a way to get the upper hand on Cupid, something she won’t be able to predict.’

He paused in his tracks. “Wait a minute,” he said, “Predict…”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! That’s the answer! That’s what’s going to put me on the top. Once I put it together Cupid won’t stand a chance,” he laughed menacingly.

Chike went to his secret and grabbed out some ingredients as well as a large book. He placed the book to the side and placed the ingredients down. Flipping to a certain page of the book, he read it quickly and then got to work. He started mixing ingredients together in a cauldron while muttering things to himself. Once Chike was satisfied with what he had, he started to chant an incantation.

The mixture glowed and Chike made some hand gestures. The mixture came out of the cauldron in the form of a thin shadow veil.

He smirked to himself eager to use it on the mortals. But before that he would need to test it out on something — or rather someone.

Chike placed the mixture back into the cauldron and summoned Phoenix. In an instant he appeared by his Lord’s side.

“You called for me, my Lord?” Phoenix said while doing his salute.

“Yes, yes. I need you to go get Janna and tell her to come here this instant.”

“Yes, my Lord,” and in a flash Phoenix was gone.

Not too long after, Janna opened the door and entered the lair. “What is it?” Janna asked annoyed.

“I need you for something,” Chike explained. Janna raised an eyebrow and her gaze turned to the mixture inside the cauldron. She scoffed.

“Oh no. Don’t even _think_ about involving me with one of your experimentations!”

Chike frowned, “Why not?”

“Because I have plenty of things to do. Plenty.” She crossed her arms.

He deadpanned. “It’s Sunday. Don’t you always finish your homework on Fridays so that you have the weekend free?”

“Exactly. Today is my day of relaxation. So why choose today to bother your ‘little sister’?”

Chike sighed, “I don’t have time for this. Come over here now.”

“No! Why don’t you ask Phoenix over there to help you?”

“Because I need a mortal to test my new spell.”

“Using ME as your test subject?! Chike are you even sure this new spell of yours won’t have some weird effects or something?” She questioned.

“Who do you think you’re talking to? I, Dark Cupid, never make mistakes.”

Janna rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed.

Chike directed her to stand in the middle of the floor. Once Janna was in place, Chike made gestures with his hands and the mixture left the cauldron once again. He directed the shadow veil towards Janna while keeping up the hand movements. As the veil made contact with Janna it enveloped her.

Chike smirked having his expectations fulfilled. However after a few seconds, the veil disintegrated into a black fog at their feet.

Janna looked down, then back up again. “Great! It failed, I was right, can I go now?” She said rapidly.

Chike frowned and started muttering to himself, “Why didn’t it work? Was it the incantation? Or maybe one of the ingredients? Hmmm…”

While he was muttering to himself, Janna took that as her cue to leave. Although, she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was called back.

* * *

Phoenix stood in front of Janna’s bedroom door, snacks in one hand and knocked with the other.

“If you’re Chike, go away! If you’re Phoenix, come in!” He heard her yell.

He opened the door and entered the room to see Janna sitting at her work desk seemingly watching something on her laptop. Phoenix walked up beside her and gently placed the plate of assorted snacks on her desk beside her laptop.

Janna paused what was playing on her device and looked to the plate. She glanced up to Phoenix. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to make me anything. I have chip bags in my room you know,” she said.

“I had just made it for you if you were hungry. If you do not wish to eat it, you do not have to,” Phoenix explained.

Janna rolled her eyes, “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying you didn’t need to go out of your way to make me food.” She took something from the plate and started to munch on it.

“Hmm, This tastes new. Where’d you learn to make this from,” Janna said with her mouth still full.

“Please finish chewing before speaking Lady Janna,” he said politely. “As for where I learned this recipe, I learned it from a book I found in the kitchens. It has many wonderful recipes I am planning to create for you and my Lord,” Phoenix explained.

Janna swallowed her food. “How many times do I have to tell you, just call me Janna or Jan. None of this ‘Lady’ stuff. But that’s cool I guess,” she said.

Phoenix nodded and Janna turned back to her laptop getting another snack to eat. She resumed what she was playing.

Phoenix was planning on leaving then but what caught his eyes was the video she was playing. He was intrigued by what it was. “What is that?” He asked Janna.

“Hm?” Janna said as she paused the video and looked back to Phoenix. She noticed what he was referring to and made a face of realization.

“Oh this? It’s just an anime I like to watch,” she said nonchalantly.

“What’s it about?”

“Basically it’s a college where people come and learn to become villains. It’s actually pretty interesting and there’s a deeper meaning within each arc.”

“Interesting… Do you mind if I watch it with you?” Phoenix asked.

Janna was a bit shocked but she didn’t really mind. She nodded and gestured for Phoenix to sit on her bed. She adjusted the laptop so that it was facing both of them and pressed play.

As the continued to watch the anime, Janna got lost in her thoughts, ‘I never thought Phoenix would be interested in watching this with me. I mean, I’ve only seen him cook, drive me places, read books and… listen to Chike’s orders I guess. It makes me wonder if there’s more to him than all that.’


End file.
